GH-325
by Skyson
Summary: What if Coulson and Skye discover side-effects from their shared life-saving serum? A deviation from canon looking at the relationship between Coulson, Skye, and GH325. Rated M for probable future sexual content.
1. Blood Is A Funny Thing

**Disclaimer: **I'm just a fan of Agents of SHIELD, playing around with characters and such... If you recognize it, I don't own it. Unfortunately.

**A/N: **This is the first chapter to a story I've been working on for a while... I think it may have been my first "Coulsye" (Skoulson? Skyson?) fic, actually. It's still in process, and I'm currently going back over it to fix things. Just to NOTE: This starts after Coulson rescues Skye, when the rest of the team are staying at the motel. It kind of references things that have happened in the show since then, but it's mostly a deviation from canon. Also because I started writing it right after that episode aired... That's what I get for writing mid-season.  
So, this is one of my pieces focusing around the serum that Skye and Coulson were both given. I think that's a really great plot point, and I can't wait to see what the writers of SHIELD will do with it, but for now, I'll play around with it.

* * *

"Hey, Coulson?" Skye called out when she saw him walk by the open door of her motel room. It was early morning; Tripp was swimming laps in the pool, and Coulson was the only other person she has seen awake so far.

"Yes, Skye?" Coulson said, leaning against the door jamb. He sounded as tired as she felt. She patted the bed next to her, where she was currently sitting cross-legged with a laptop in her lap.

Coulson entered the room and, when she asked, shut the door behind him without question.

"I want to show you something..." Skye brought up a couple windows on the computer as he carefully sat on the edge of the bed. For one worried moment, he thought of the video that May had shown him last night.

_I should tell Skye._ It wasn't the first time he's had that thought.

"What is it?" He asked, catching her careful tone. She was unsure how he was going to take it, whatever it was, and she was worried. He turned a little and leaned over as she rotated the computer so the both of them could look at it.

"It's data... Saved video feed from Simmons' studies she'd been running... On us." Skye told him, and he looked at her quickly.

"The data was on the hard drive," he said, and Skye shook her head sadly.

"They've still got everything," She sounded apologetic, "But while I was attempting to stall Ward at the diner and get away, I sent full copies of our data to an encrypted site only I can access." Coulson gave her a dubious look.

"Not that I don't trust your computer skills, Skye, but I know there are other hackers in the world; people who can find anything once it's been put online - no matter the source."

Skye grinned at him, tilting her head sideways.

"Coulson, I hacked into a Level Eight secure file in under two minutes. I managed to find you when no one else knew where to start - _with_ that dumb bracelet on." She reminded him, and he gave her a grateful smirk.

"You've got a point," he conceded. He shifted a little more so that he could see the screen more clearly. "So what are we looking at?" He asked. The windows that were open both played a video feed that appeared to be looking through the lens of a microscope.

"Live cultures. Samples of blood." Skye said, and Coulson raised his eyebrow as he watched the substance slide around the screen.

"This is still a rather broad view... Why am I seeing it move like that? Shouldn't we only see that on a molecular level?" Coulson asked, leaning in. Skye raised her eyebrow for a different reason than he had.

"You've been paying attention to Simmons' ramblings!" She teased, and he glanced toward her to grin at her.

"I passed biology class." He replied. She chuckled, then answered his question seriously,

"You are right. Blood does not normally do this."

"The coloring seems normal. You said it was yours?" He asked, and she simply gestured toward the screen.

Coulson frowned as he looked between the two.

"They look exactly the same." He focused his eyes on her. "I'm not seeing something." He acknowledged, seeing her serious facial expression.

"Any blood sample would look pretty much the same at this level, except perhaps the Hulk's," Skye told him, "I mean, observe what it's doing. Describe it."

He raised his eyebrow toward her.

"I think we've _both_ been spending too much time with Simmons." He said, and because Skye didn't smile, he turned his attention to the computer once more. "Okay... They appear to be..." He watched closely, frowning. "That's more than just random swimming around in solution. It's practically... Alive." He looked up at her, and judging from her expression he knew that he was on the right track. "More so than the regular way blood is alive, I mean," he added, and she nodded, urging him on. He looked back to the screen. "Well, they seem to be almost... Pulling toward one another? But this is just video feed - "

"The windows are set up exactly how Simmons had the microscopes set up in the lab. Side by side."

"So... Perhaps the blood is... Wanting to reunite? Regenerate, in a way? That's already a known side-effect of the serum." Coulson sighed. "I don't really know, Skye, I'm not a scientist, I just try to pay attention and follow along."

"You are right," Skye told him, "it is trying to reunite. But..." She trailed off, and he turned his attention away from the screen and fully on her. "Coulson, those are two different blood samples." Skye admitted, looking up at him, something akin to anguish on her face, which alarmed him.

"From different times?"

"From different people."

Coulson stared at her a moment, understanding dawning. He looked back to the screen.

"One of those is mine."


	2. Us Or Them

_"One of those is mine."_

He watched the two samples of blood swimming around in solution, as if in search for something. If the two samples happened to reach the sides of their petri dishes closest to one another at the same time, they pressed against the wall with urgency. As if discovering it wouldn't work, after a few moments, the random swimming would continue.

Coulson looked back up to Skye, his brow furrowed again.

"I'm assuming this has something to do with the serum." He said, and she nodded. "Does Simmons know what it means?" He asked, and Skye shrugged.

"She says we could be housing some sort of DNA or blood or _something_ from the same alien, and it wants to reunite with itself when it finds bits of it not together... Or..." Coulson raised his eyebrow, and she looked somewhere over his shoulder. "Or we could have pieces from two _different_ aliens inside of us. Aliens that were... Bonded... In some way." She finished lamely, and Coulson blinked.

"What I found down in that bunker," He said after a careful moment of silence, "When I found the source... There was only one." But his eyes looked unsure, and she could see it.

"But it explains so much," Skye said quietly, looking at him earnestly, and he inwardly agreed with her, but tried to keep his face stoic.

They'd always cared about one another, they knew that since almost the very beginning. They had a great, albeit sometimes frustrating, working relationship. She was like his protégé, except more than that – she wasn't just one of the members of his team.

But then she got shot, she was given the same serum he had (or close enough to it), and he spent days watching over her until she woke up. (She didn't know about that part, though Simmons did.) She was threatened by the Clairvoyant (turned out to be an imposter, but Coulson didn't like the threat, nonetheless), then kidnapped by Ward, threatened and attacked by Deathlok... He had not slept until she had been rescued from that plane. And he had refused to do anything else other than go in and save her on his own - much to the dismay of both Agent May and Agent Triplett.

And he had saved her. They didn't get hurt (too much), and they were currently off the grid, momentarily safe. He had been so happy that she was still alive. It had surprised him; the amount of relief he felt when he had first caught sight of her in The Bus. And then splitting his candy bar with her as they chatted by the pool the night before, without any prior thought. Sitting with her, making sure she was doing okay, leaving FitzSimmons to their own devices. Not that he didn't care about _them_, on the contrary, but... It certainly wasn't the same, and he knew that it hadn't been since Skye had woken up in that hospital bed.

"Coulson, look at us." Skye said incredulously, closing the laptop and setting it off to the side. "Here we are, in some rather seedy motel room, sitting next to one another on the bed, at five o'clock in the morning. The door is closed, Triplett probably saw you come in here, but have either of us stopped to think about the implications?"

Realizing she was right, Coulson stood and stepped toward the door.

"I'm sorry, Skye, if you're uncomfortable - "

"I'm certainly not uncomfortable because of _those_ things," Skye assured him, getting up and moving toward him.

"I didn't mean - " He sounded like he was apologizing, and she interrupted him again.

"You feel it too, don't you?" She half-questioned. He looked her in the eyes, his face stoic again. That was telling enough in its own way.

Yes. He felt it too. Particularly now, which was why it would be a really good idea for him to leave the room.

"I should - "

"What would happen if we were to - "

"What?" He frowned, half frustrated that she kept interrupting him, half not wanting her to finish that sentence. She was looking at him, but also through him. She was mulling over something, and each passing second made him feel more and more the urge to leave, and more and more the urge _not_ to leave.

"We should kiss." She said, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

_Big deal._

"What?!" He demanded, giving her his warning look.

"Scientific experiment," She continued, still standing there appraising him, and not in the 'I'm checking you out' sort of appraising.

"Skye, this is inappropriate," He began, and she scoffed.

"What is _inappropriate_," she mocked his tone, "is completely ignoring whatever it is that this stupid serum is doing to us!" She took a step closer to him as she argued. "We've handled it fine, so far. Sure. But one of these days, it might get worse. It might get... Impatient. What if we're on The Bus when that happens? What if we're on _an op _when that happens?"

"You say 'when' as if - "

"You feel it too." She reminded him, standing there in front of him, less than an arm's length away, staring him directly in the eyes.

Yes. He felt it too. And that frustrated him, though when she took a half step closer, he didn't step away.

She stood on her toes, holding lightly onto his arms to steady herself, and he didn't push her away. She moved slowly, very slowly, and when he felt her breath against his lips, he flinched his head back slightly. She paused, waiting for him to pull away, but he didn't. They continued to look one another in the eyes, until she touched her lips against his. Her eyes closed, his stayed open. She didn't push, she simply rested her lips there. Firmly, so that he was _aware _that this was actually happening, but waiting for him to decide.

She shifted a little, dropping her heels down to stand more firmly on the ground. He didn't make a conscious decision before moving his lips against hers, pressing back just a little. She hesitated a moment, and when he still didn't pull away, she responded with a little movement of her own. He leaned his head to the side, deepening the kiss, closing his eyes, and then they were both breathing a little heavily and moving their mouths together in earnest. He began to lean into her, over her a little bit, pressing his upper body against hers even more firmly.

There was a knock on the door, and they pulled away with sharp intakes of breath, staring at one another with wide eyes. Coulson's mouth was open a little, as if he was shocked.

_He probably was - she certainly was; wow who knew he could kiss like that?_

"Just a minute," Coulson called out, sounding surprisingly relaxed. Skye was afraid to try her voice at the moment. They stared at one another, both still very keen of the feeling of the other's lips, and they leaned in again at the same time. This kiss was solid, hard, and not as long-lived. Coulson pulled back and moved to the door, running his hand across his hair before pulling the door open.

Skye moved quickly toward her computer, focusing on putting it on the desk and using that time to school her features.

_That was... odd._ The constant pull toward him was diminished, though, so maybe they were on to something. _Perhaps the species is just big on physical touch. Maybe it's just their love language, or whatever. _She refused to think anything about mating rituals.

_You've got to be kidding me. I mean, AC is awesome, sure. And I certainly wouldn't mind kissing him again _- Skye shook her head.

She'd always found Coulson attractive in that man-in-a-suit, sure-of-himself, he-can-also-kick-ass sort of way. And his eyes were fascinating, really. But this... this sudden _need_ to be around him, to seek out his face in a crowd, to check up on him after an op - it was a little overwhelming. And she was honestly getting a little frustrated with all the innocent little touches, all the times she caught him staring at her with _that look_.

'Course, he'd caught _her_ giving him that same look, too.

Skye sighed. _How much of this is us, and how much of it is that serum? _She had no idea. It was hard to differentiate.

"Coulson," May greeted at the door, leaning her head to the side and seeing Skye. "Sorry," May said, looking back to Coulson, "I didn't know you were debriefing already."

Skye sucked in a strangled breath, suddenly very focused on her laptop again.


	3. Time To Tell The Truth

**Disclaimer: **I'm just a fan of Agents of SHIELD, playing around with characters and such... If you recognize it, I don't own it. Unfortunately.

**A/N: **This one is shorter, but I may be able to post the next chapter within the day, so I hope that will make up for it. Sincere thank-yous to everyone who has favourited and reviewed. I appreciate it. :) (Future chapters may change the rating to "M", but I'm not sure about that. We'll see where it goes. I'd just like to give a heads up of the possibility.)

* * *

"It's okay, May." Coulson betrayed nothing. "We were just finishing up. What do you need?"

Skye thought that perhaps May looked suspicious, but then again, May always looked suspicious. _Why is A.C. so cool? How the hell can he play it so cool all the time? It's hell trying to hide all of this from him, from the rest of the team... Am I the only one really affected by this serum?_ Skye wondered a lot of things, but that kiss made her think that she was probably wrong about being the only one affected.

"I'm headed out to get supplies. Any requests?" May asked calmly, almost as if she had _expected_ to find the two of them in a room together.

"I could really use a change of clothes..." Skye admitted. She hadn't realized, until she was in proximity to Coulson, that she still smelled very much like _Ward_, from all those times he randomly grabbed her, hugging her, kissing her. Skye shuddered, and May seemed to understand.

"I could too, actually," Coulson admittedly sadly, "A suit isn't very conducive to laying low." May nodded.

"Change of clothes for both of you. Got it." She said. "I'm taking one of the Night-Night guns with me. If I'm not back in two hours, get out of here and head to the next destination."

"I've been on the run before, May." Coulson gently reminded her. "I've just never been _homeless _before…"

"I can help with that," Skye piped up, and they smirked at each other. May raised her eyebrow as she looked at them, put her hand on Coulson's arm to get his attention again, and gave him a serious look.

_Tell her._

May walked away, and Coulson sighed heavily, running his hand across his face. He was still scruffy, and he was about to call after May to ask for a shaving kit when Skye was the one to put her hand on his arm.

"You should probably leave it," She said quietly, and he looked down at her, realizing she was right. "We're in this together," She reminded him with a small smile, and his smile in return was sad.

"It's my turn to show you something," He said, his voice sounding heavier than she had ever heard before. "Come with me," He rested his hand on her shoulder, leading her to his room. His laptop was sitting open on his table, the large LEVEL TEN ACCESS ONLY bright across the screen.

"What is this?" Skye asked, and he felt her tense. He pulled his hand away from her.

"Before I play this, Skye, I want you to know that I don't remember any of this. This is entirely new to me." He was pleading with her, and she have him a worried look. She reached up and placed her palm against his scruffy cheek.

Someday, when all hell was not breaking out, she would tell him that she liked his five o'clock shadow look.

"I trust you, A.C," She promised him softly, but the anguished look on his face only became worse.

"You may not after you've seen this," He told her, and she frowned at him slightly, pulling her hand away and turning back toward the computer screen.

She knew that it must be pretty bad, whatever it was. She carefully moved her hand over the keys, hesitating a moment before pressing play.

Coulson's face was on the screen, younger, less lines, but with a darker look in his eye than what he had when Skye first met him.


	4. The Truth Is Revealed, Sort Of

When the recording was finished, Coulson watched Skye carefully as she stood very still, her hands held at her sides. He noticed her fingers were clenched into tight fists, and he closed his eyes, waiting for the blow.

He'd failed her. This entire time, it had been _him _all along, and she had trusted him. With everything.

When Skye turned around to face him, she saw the anguished look on his face and his eyes pressed shut. She frowned at him.

"Coulson." She said carefully, wondering why he looked like a beat puppy.

"Skye, I..." He trailed off, opening his eyes and looking at her in earnest. He sounded worse than apologetic; he sounded... Like he'd given up. Like he expected her to just cut into him.

"Coulson," Skye said again, this time more firmly, "How the _hell _could Fury do this to you?"

Coulson stared at her in shock. Her rage was not directed _at _him - it was _for _him.

"I mean - what the hell?!" Skye said a little louder, something sparking in her eyes that he hasn't seen before.

"Skye," Coulson stepped toward her, reaching a hand out to calm her down. Instead, she stepped into him and threw her arms around his waist, holding him firmly.

She didn't say anything; she was too angry to speak. Coulson was too surprised by her reaction to know what to say, and he let out a breath and swallowed.

He slowly raised a hand to press against her shoulder blade, half-heartedly returning her embrace, still expecting her to shove him away.

"They're going to pay for this." Skye promised vehemently, and he could feel against his shoulder how tightly she was holding her jaw.

"Skye," Coulson insisted, grasping her shoulders and pushing her back enough to look her in the eyes. "That was _me_. _I _was performing all those experiments on people, for who knows how long. Innocent people were dying, because of _me_. How many other people have begged for death?! How many others have I tortured?!"

Skye began shaking her head urgently before he was finished.

"But you weren't unaffected by that, Coulson! You advised him to stop the project entirely - you _resigned_. _You_, who geeks out over old Commando gear and Captain America. You, who has been referred to as the best agent of SHIELD by practically every other person I've talked to. You told Fury that you would resign before continuing that project. You aren't _heartless_, AC,"

"But I _didn't _resign, Skye," Coulson said, his tone anguished again. "At the very least, I went on to lead the Avengers Initiative. And who knows how much time passed between those two projects. What else could I have done in the name of SHIELD... Or maybe even in the name of _Hydra_..."

Coulson let go of her, backing away and dropping to the bed. He rested his elbows on his knees, dropping his head into his hands.

"To imagine doing something for Hydra, even unknowingly... I can't stand that, Skye. I can't live with that." Coulson admitted quietly, his voice partially muffled.

"Because you are an agent of SHIELD." Skye reminded him firmly. "You always will be, Phillip Coulson." Coulson looked up at her when she said his full name, having never heard her done so before. "You told me once that SHIELD represented the protection between what's out there and what's down here. That the people need something, someone, to stand behind. That's who we are, AC. Maybe the public lost their trust in us as a whole because of Hydra - but they still need us. They still need protection."

Skye stepped over and crouched down in front of him, so that she was now looking up at him. She gently took one of his hands in hers, and while his hand was relatively limp in hers, he didn't pull away.

"It still counts for something," She quoted his words gently, and he gave her a small, wry smile, and sniffed. He was still a little embarrassed about that moment out in the snow... She squeezed his hand a little hard with her next words; a warning, "If you ever even _suggest _your own death, in _any _way, in front of me again, so help me God..."

"Yes, ma'am," Coulson replied sheepishly, trying to follow her lead and lighten the mood a little bit. Skye reached up and pulled his head down against hers, foreheads resting together.

"I know you now, AC, and _that's _who you are. Whoever that guy is in that video... Maybe it did used to be you. But it's not you anymore. Who you are _now _is what matters." Skye spoke gently but firmly, and he closed his eyes as he focused on her breath ghosting across his face, using that focus to calm down. "The AC I know is a good man, a kind man, who makes tough decisions and sometimes dangerous ones - but he's a caring man. He's cool,"

Coulson chuckled again, this time a little looser and with a little more genuine amusement.

"The AC I know doesn't always like the consequences, but he makes the tough decisions anyway. He knows that in the end, he's picked the right choice – even if the rest of the team doesn't always agree." She was the one with the wry smile this time, both of them recalling the complaints as they had trudged through the snowy wilderness of Canada.

"Sometimes I feel like the old me disagrees with the things I'm doing now," Coulson whispered his admission. Skye brought her hands up again and rested them against either side of his face, her fingers pushing through his hair a little. "I break protocol… a lot, now. Even before I got angry over the whole TAHITI project, I was disobeying orders and making rash decisions."

"Rash decisions? You?" Skye said lightly, arching her eyebrow. She felt him chuckle.

"I kept you around." He said simply. "I was ordered to bring you in and, instead, I took you in as a part of the team."

"I remember," Skye said softly, "The rest of the team didn't like me, at first. But you did – you believed in me from the very beginning." She sounded thankful, and he sighed.

_I don't deserve her._

"They grew to like you, though." Coulson told her, and she nodded slightly, his head moving a little as well because of where their foreheads still touched. "Seeing that video," Coulson went back to what was really bothering him, "It pulled up all those moments where I second-guessed myself. Where I felt like I wasn't _me_, anymore. Skye, I – I don't _remember_." He sounded distraught again, and she rubbed her fingers gently where they rested against his head.

A calm, soothing motion, from someone who was so pent up with angry energy… he didn't deserve this. He sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes shut tighter, waiting for a few breaths until he was sure that he could speak without choking up.

"I remember New York. I remember what happened before New York. I remember the Avengers, I remember when I first met Captain Rodgers, when I found Thor's hammer, when I was Barton and Romanoff's SO…." His next sentence sounded a little miffed, "All those dealings with Stark."

Skye smiled, telling herself to ask him about _those _stories later. She continued softly massaging his head, and felt his facial muscles begin to relax, although his tone was still tightly wound in emotion.

"I remember Audrey," He said her name with such soft sadness that Skye felt simultaneously jealous and heart-broken.

"AC," She crooned, and he shook his head very slightly.

"That was a long time ago," He sighed. "But if I am forgetting an _entire project_… what else have they taken from me? How many days, months, _years _of my life have been taken from me? What things have I said, what have I done, that have effected other people? Good or bad? Skye – I don't _remember_."

His distress tore through her, and she pulled him closer to her. He pushed her back a little with his knees as he slid off the edge of the bed and onto the floor; now in a better position to pull her against him. Before she could maneuver to his side, he pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and dropping his head onto her shoulder.

She was surprised by his sudden vulnerability, and a little overwhelmed by it. She figured this was a long-time coming, though, and just hoped that this would later help him rather than harm him further.

His body shook, and she wrapped one arm around his back and lifted her chin, resting it on top of his head. She wrapped her other arm around his, a still, solid weight that she hoped would comfort him.

Tears fell down her face as well, and she recalled the one and only other time she'd seen him cry. She had been crying as well then, too. A man like Coulson was too good of a man to be brought to tears, and in her sadness, she boxed away the building rage, allowing it to settle and simmer. Holding it in until that perfect moment, when she could avenge his brokenness.

* * *

**A/N: **I mean, Coulson IS human. He just hides his more vulnerable emotions from most people. However, he's already shown in-canon that he seems to trust Skye with the heavier things... other than that scene with May and the scar. But I really doubt he'll be opening up to May like that again anytime soon, after she betrayed his trust like she did.

Disappointing, really - but a great plot point. May is such a Mama-Bear.


	5. Make Them Pay

**Disclaimer:** I'm just a fan of Agents of SHIELD, playing around with characters and such... If you recognize it, I don't own it. Unfortunately.

**A/N: **Thanks, everyone. :) You all are fantastic.

This is a bit of a skip ahead. Other than what has already been mentioned, everything else still happens in-canon. All the missions, the undercover, the raid on Cybertek, the arrival at the Playground... all of that still happens as it has in the show. I chose to start with this particular scene because it introduces Skye's seriousness about protecting those she cares about.

* * *

Skye couldn't help but rebuke herself for her actions while she'd been held hostage on the Bus. She'd had a _chance_ right there to take care of Ward, to put a little wrench in Garrett's plans, but she hadn't taken it.

Regardless of what Coulson said, she _had _been stupid and weak, and she couldn't understand how he didn't _get_ why she was so frustrated with herself. A lot of her anger was because of what they had done to _Coulson_, and here he is telling her that she was right in her compassion?

No. Ward was not the one who deserved her compassion. Garrett did not deserve compassion. Hydra did not deserve compassion.

The only people who deserved that were right here, homeless and on the run with her. And now that she'd lost the hard drive, she put the people she cared most about in _even more_ danger than they were already in.

She sat down hard on the bed, trying to contain the scream that wanted to be let out. _Why_ had she allowed Ward to manipulate her so? She'd played _right_ into his game – hook, line, sinker. And she'd _kissed _him,

"God," Skye shuddered and kicked her shoes off, pulling her feet up onto the bed. Her laptop was still sitting there, open to the picture she had taken of Ward at the diner. The picture she had used in his police file. He looked innocent, in this picture. He looked like the Ward that she had trained with, played games with, teased, crushed on… He'd been _Ward_, sure; people skills weren't really his forte – but he'd also been sweet, at times. He had shown her vulnerability.

"I guess that was the point," She muttered, wiping tears off of her cheeks angrily. He'd played her. He'd played the whole team.

She wasn't sure which bothered her more.

... ... ...

After her pep talk with May, Skye felt significantly better. At first she had wondered why May had been the one to come give her a pep talk, and not Coulson, but then May offered for Skye to join her Tai Chi sessions.

"You knew, didn't you?" Skye quickly moved to follow Coulson out the door, pulling it almost completely closed behind her. He stopped and looked at her closely. "You knew that May would offer to help me."

"I know that you have a lot to be angry at, Skye." Coulson replied, giving her a small, sad smile. "And I know that May is the best person I've ever known at controlling her anger, at waiting to use it until the moment is right."

Skye looked at him for a moment, and reached up to place her palm on his chest.

"Thank you," She told him, and his eyes softened. They stood like that for a few more moments before Coulson nodded and slipped away. When Skye stepped back into the hotel room, May was giving the empty space where Coulson had been a curious look.

... ... ...

Skye pulled Coulson to the side after his rallying speech, turning their bodies away from the other two as they prepared. They spoke in low tones to try and give themselves as much privacy in the small space as possible.

"Coulson," Skye said, and he shook his head slightly as he checked his gun and holstered it.

"It'll work, Skye," He told her, determination in his eyes, and she gave him a grim smile.

"I don't doubt that – it's a plan made by AC," He smiled at that, "It's just… you and Trip are going to be in the middle of it. Not that I doubt Trip's abilities at all, but I'd feel better if it was May watching your back…"

"No," Coulson shook his head firmly, "I want May protecting _you_. We both know that you're the one Ward will be after, and I want May to be there when he shows." Coulson pulled at his vest to make sure it was snug, and grinned at her. "I'll take care of Trip, don't worry." Skye smiled for real at that, and shook her head.

"Alright, AC," Skye sighed, touching his elbow. "Just… be careful, okay?" She spoke even quieter, and his eyes softened.

"Don't worry about me. Just get our Ace, okay?" He told her, and she nodded, squaring her shoulders. He reached up to brush his thumb across her cheek, giving her what she was starting to call 'The Look'. She hadn't seen it since they were at the first hotel, and it calmed her more than anything he could have said.

He pulled away and stepped into the cockpit, and she turned toward her bag to make sure everything was in there. Whether the other two had witnessed their rather intimate moment or not, they acted as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the three of them finished preparing in grim silence.

After everything finally calmed down - after Ward was taken away, after Ace was reunited with his aunt, after Mike walked away into the darkness - the team scrounged around the facility, reacquiring weaponry and other tech that had been taken from the Fridge.

"FitzSimmons will probably enjoy some of this science stuff." Fury pointed out to Coulson, who nodded in agreement. "Make sure that makes it onto the Bus!" Fury told the officers working in the hanger bay. Various affirmatives were given, and he turned toward Coulson. "You know where the plasma beam might be?" Coulson grinned.

"I think I have an idea."

When Coulson returned to the hanger bay five minutes later, the rest of the team had met up and were comparing injuries. Worry he hadn't realized he'd been carrying so heavily eased away when he saw that Skye was unharmed. She did not share his look of relief, however, and ran up to him before he'd even handed off the plasma beam.

"Are you alright?" She demanded, reaching up to touch the skin near his right eye. He flinched back, frowning at her.

"Just a scratch." He said, handing the 0-8-4 weapon to the tech awaiting nearby. "You know that head wounds bleed a lot. It looks worse than it is."

"It _looks_ like it needs stitches," Skye pointed out as he walked around her to join the rest of the team.

"Your girl's right, Coulson." Fury said. "Hey! Where's the damn medic?!" Fury yelled to the general room, and immediately someone was there with a handful of medical supplies. Coulson frowned toward Skye again but did as the medic asked.

Skye didn't overlook how Director Fury had referred to her, and she quietly disappeared into the fray to help clean up. No sense in calling attention to her and Coulson's predicament. It wasn't like he was mortally wounded or anything.

"Hey," May had followed her up the loading ramp into the Bus, "You did good back there." May sounded sincere, and Skye grinned.

"So did you."

"Sorry I didn't leave any of him for you," May commented, and Skye shook her head.

"Honestly? I got what I wanted out of Ward. He isn't the one I'm saving my anger for, anyway." Skye admitted, shrugging.

"Who is?" May asked, raising her eyebrow curiously. Skye stopped and looked at her for a moment, and trusted that she wouldn't tell Coulson.

"The man who did this," Skye pointed toward her own stomach, "And the woman who did that," She spoke darkly, jabbing her thumb toward Coulson. May followed the gesture, looking thoughtful.

"Raina," She spoke with understanding, and when she returned her eyes to Skye, she was looking serious. "And Quinn. It's not going to happen immediately. They're in the wind, and we need to recuperate."

"I know," Skye nodded, looking solemn. "But I'm going to find her. And I'm going to make her pay."


	6. May Cause Risky Side-Effects

**A/N: **I think this is the chapter I'm going to change the rating to 'M' for. There's nothing too raunchy anywhere in the story (I've got it basically planned out in its entirety at this point), but this is where things start to heat up a bit. I'd just rather be safe than sorry, so, forewarned! Sexual tension abounds, and that usually leads to other things...

* * *

Coulson wanted to start by taking stock of everything they had taken from Cybertek, and everything that was already at the Playground.

When she wasn't sitting in Fitz' recovery room, Simmons was cleaning up and reorganizing the medical facilities in the compound. Triplett and May both started out with working on the weapons inventory; it turned out the Playground had its own armory, much to Trip's delight. Coulson had talked to Skye about figuring out a way to contact agents that were still loyal to SHIELD, so she was currently developing a secure network. She was also working on upping the network security measures within the compound, so what files they had weren't in danger of being stolen or misused. Again.

With nothing to do but wait on her programs to run, Skye searched through the storage rooms for the paper files they had taken from Cybertek. She might as well start digitizing them now; it would be a long process.

She was digging through one of the more chaotic rooms, muttering about how they should have been a little more organized when they first unloaded, when she saw something that made her freeze.

The entire back wall was covered in symbols, symbols that looked just like what she'd seen in the glass from the door that Garrett had gone to crazy town with. She wasn't sure why it made her so uncomfortable, but she left the room quickly. She made sure to close the door behind her. The files were probably in a different room, anyway.

By the time Skye discovered the files she'd been looking for, she couldn't remember what had freaked her out about the other storage room, and she laughed at herself about being scared of ghosts.

... ... ...

Coulson was glad that he had changed in his bathroom after his workout, because Skye was standing in his room when he stepped out. He stared at her, startled, as steam wafted out from behind him.

"We shouldn't have kissed." Skye told him. She was staring, unblinking. He took a step further into the room, leaving the residual warmth of the bathroom and feeling the cold droplets of water his wet hair was dripping down his neck.

"It was your idea," He pointed out calmly, lifting the towel in his hands to the back of his neck, rubbing it through his hair.

He appeared calm enough, but she felt like she was losing her mind. She was quite aware of his scent, much stronger from the shower, and the way his hair stuck up after he ran the towel over it. The way the grey V-neck sweater he now wore clung to his shoulders, but hung off the rest of him rather loosely. The way he could wear a pair of jeans _perfectly_, because, hell, why wouldn't he?

She _then_ realized that she hadn't replied to him, and focused back on his face to see him raise his eyebrow toward her. _Amused_. Skye narrowed her eyes.

"I should have waited to show you what Simmons' had found. I should have waited to figure it out," She sounded frustrated with herself, and a little flustered. Coulson smirked slightly and took a step closer to her. "We don't have _time_ to be dealing with this, on top of everything else…" She trailed off, staring at the hollow point at the base of his neck, where the two sides of his collarbone met. Skin that rarely showed itself, because of his suits. An innocent patch of skin, really.

She wanted to taste it.

Coulson's hands were at her shoulders, jarring her back into focus.

"Skye." He said a little forcefully. "Just breathe. It's okay." He thought that she was second-guessing what they had done because of her own lack of interest – oh, no, that wasn't her problem at all.

"It's not okay," She argued, "It's not." He removed his hands from her, dropping them to his side. He frowned a little, concerned.

"Skye, I'm not angry with you," He stopped, seeing her surprised look. "That's not the problem," He surmised, and she scoffed, though it sounded more like an distressed moan, and she moved a little closer to him to drop her forehead to his shoulder. He swallowed, kept his hands at his sides.

"AC, _how_ can you be…" She lifted her hands, pressing them gently against his abdomen. He sucked in a breath, froze. "I'm waiting on my algorithm, I don't have anything else to do for the moment, and I immediately think about…" She turns her head, rubbing the tip of her nose against the side of his neck.

There's that awareness again, jolting all the way down to his toes, but he still keeps his hands at his sides.

"_Skye_," He doesn't speak as forcefully as he intended; it comes out sounding a little more wistful. He feels her nose move toward the front of his neck. "We need to focus on rebuilding," He says, but his eyes close and his hands find themselves on her waist.

"_That's_ _the problem_," Her breath against his damp skin is almost too much. _I'd been doing so well_, he thought. He'd thought about her while he was in the shower, sure, but he'd kept those thoughts innocent… mostly. He'd tried to.

"It's only been a few days," He ground out between his teeth, eyes still closed and hands still firmly planted on her hips, "It's just too new. This will pass." He sounded like he was talking to himself just as much as he was her. Her nose pressed more firmly against the hollow of his neck, and her hands slipped up under his sweater, her palms flat against the bare skin of his stomach. His hands clenched at her waist, and she breathed in deeply against his neck.

"Mmh," She sighed, and when her lips touched his skin, he leaned his head back to give her better access. She slowly trailed her lips up across his Adam's apple, back down to his collarbone, humming against his skin. Breathing him in. Her soft skin rubbed against his scruff, a delicious feeling. Her fingers moved against his abdomen, but gave no threat of rising higher. He groaned lightly.

He knew this was not a smart idea, but he didn't care. He didn't care, because she felt so good, perfect; everything he'd been _missing_. He also knew that most of this was probably because of their "shared alien juice", as she called it, but he didn't care about that either. That didn't matter anymore. What mattered, was that they were _together_. After so long –

He disentangled his hands from her hair suddenly, taking a step back. _When did my hands reach her hair? _He vaguely wondered, staring at her with wide eyes. She was giving him the same look, though there was also understanding in her eyes.

"You feel it too, don't you?" She said again, quietly, out of breath and yet also very calm. "It's confusing. I don't know what's _me _and what's…" She looked away from him for the first time, frustrated tears shining in her eyes. As ruffled as he was, a part of him was worried for her, and he took a step closer to her again.

"I can't tell…" Coulson trailed off, in agreement with her. But if he says this out loud, he's admitting… he's admitting it's not _all just _the drug. He's admitting that a part of this is him, human, Phillip Coulson. Attracted to one of the members of his team – hell, more than _attracted_. This was not the Agent Coulson he used to be, he knew that. The question was, did he still want to try to be that agent?

He looked at her carefully, her brow furrowed slightly as she watched him debate with himself, and as she tried to figure her own thoughts out.

_No_, he decided. He was different now, and like she had told him previously, who he was _now_ was what mattered.

Very deliberately, and carefully, he placed his hands on either side of her face, leaned in, closed his eyes, and kissed her. After a few moments, and still feeling like he was completely in control, he pulled away, keeping his hands on her.

"After we get this place more organized, we will try this again. If we cannot … control… it, then we will talk with Simmons. Okay?" He spoke firmly, not quite in his 'boss' voice, but in a tone that asked for no arguments. Skye nodded silently, licking her lips.

"What if," She sounded worried, scared almost, and he shook his head, interrupting her.

"We need to be very careful now, Skye." He told her softly, dropping his hands and taking a step back. "From now on, we cannot be alone together. I don't want to have to avoid you entirely, but if it becomes necessary…" He trailed off, and she nodded.

"If it becomes necessary." She agreed. They looked at one another with a sort of sadness. "God, AC. What the hell is happening to us?" Skye wondered quietly. He stared her softly in the eyes.

"I don't know, Skye. But I won't let it hurt us, I can promise you that."


	7. Not So Bad Side-Effects

**Disclaimer: **Coulson's not mine, bla bla bla - stop making me say it, okay? *sits sadly in the corner*

* * *

After five a.m. Tai Chi with May, Skye trained with Trip for a few hours. He had refused to call himself her SO, and he wouldn't allow her to call him by that title, but neither of them really minded. They thought of it more as 'big brother teaching little sister the tools of the trade', anyway, and Skye thought it was much cooler that way.

She usually had time between to make herself a cup of coffee, and she was doing just that when Coulson walked into the kitchen, headed straight for the coffee pot.

"It's fresh, if you want some." Skye said, taking a sip out of her mug. He gave her a tired, grateful look as he poured a mug for himself. "Late start, today?" Skye mused, watching his movements. He was dressed like he was about to go workout; in shorts and a t-shirt. She tried not to stare at his arms for too long.

"Didn't sleep much last night," He replied with a shrug, leaning his hip against the counter next to her as he took a sip of his coffee. Skye knew better than to scold him about his sleeping habits, and drained the rest of her mug before rinsing it and putting it in the washer.

"Well, I'm going to go stretch and get myself ready by the time Trip wakes up. If you haven't gone back to bed by then, you're welcome to watch me kick his ass." Skye offered, looking over her shoulder at him as she walked out into the hallway.

"How could I refuse an offer like that?" Coulson smiled at her, watching her walk away.

... ... ...

"Alright, let's see if you remember any of those jiu-jitsu moves I showed you," Trip was smirking as he took his stance on the mat. Skye gave him a serious look as she followed suit, standing opposite.

_"__Most people you're gonna fight with are gonna be bigger than you," _Trip had told her back when they first started, _"So I'm gonna show you how to use their own weight and strength against them."_

_"__Will I be able to take you down?" _Skye had teased him.

_"__I hope so. Or else I haven't taught you right."_

Skye had been surprised, at first. With Ward, if she ever surprised him or got a hit on him, he would be angry about it. But with Trip, he would give her a smile and tell her she did good, or he would show her how to perform the move even better next time.

Mornings like today, though, were when they got all their competiveness out. No holds barred, may the best man win. Though Trip always promised to keep the match relatively fair, and only used moves that he had previously shown her in lessons.

Of course, it didn't matter if they were moves that she knew like the back of her hand, or moves that he had demonstrated once three weeks ago.

He liked to keep her on her toes.

They circled the mat once, Trip waiting on her to make the first move, which she did. He quickly blocked her and twisted her around to put her in a choke hold. She frowned, not wanting to tap out so early.

"Are you even awake?" Trip teased her, and Skye rolled her eyes. "C'mon, tap out." Trip said. He hadn't shown her yet how to get out of this hold, though he wasn't about to just let her go. Points weren't given until the other person tapped.

Skye calmed her breathing – choke holds always made her panicky – and she looked over to where Coulson was currently running on the treadmill. She winked at him, and he looked amused, knowing exactly what she was about to do.

"What are you waiting – " Trip stopped when Skye suddenly moved, dropping her weight and putting her head down. In quick succession, she elbowed his stomach and reached back to push her palm against his jaw, forcing his head up and back. This allowed her enough space to twist her body around and gain control of the arm that he had been choking her with.

"Damn!" Trip grunted as she over-rotated his shoulder and brought him to the ground. He tapped and she quickly dropped his arm and took a few steps back, fists up, breathing heavily with the effort. Trip was not a small guy, and she had never actually tried that move on another person before.

Trip got up and gave her a look.

"I didn't show you that move." He told her, and she grinned cheekily at him.

"You did. Once. I YouTube'd it after that."

"You learned how to do that from _YouTube_?" Trip replied, incredulous. He looked toward Coulson. "Sir, can we _please_ revoke her internet privileges?"

"Tried that once." Coulson smirked. "Didn't work so well." Skye grinned at him and Trip shook his head, muttering to himself,

"Learning how to fight from _YouTube_. How the hell…"

Skye knew that Trip was going to start to really use his weight and strength against her, and she widened her stance a bit when he moved toward her, shoulders low. She let out a small breath of air as he flipped her over, but used his momentum to roll them over so that she was on top. Both of their arms were trapped in useless positions, however, and he lifted his hips up and pushed with his shoulders, flipping her over his head so that she landed on her back with a thud.

She lifted her head up and frowned toward Coulson's raised eyebrow, flipping herself around onto her feet, hands ready to block an incoming attack. This time Trip got a hand onto the back of her shoulder, pushing her to the ground. He dropped down to trap her and she got her foot up and pressed it into his stomach, pushing him up and over. He wrapped his arm around her leg as he flipped and forced her to roll as well, securely trapping her leg with her face down on the mat. She tapped the mat and he let her go, both of them quickly getting back to their feet.

Trip wasted no time coming after her. She blocked his first punch, took the second against her thigh, elbowed his face in retaliation. Though his head turned away from the hit, he brought his arm up to snag it around her neck and twisted his body so that she was off-balance. She braced two hands against his abdomen. From here, she couldn't do much to get out of it without sacrificing herself in the process. She tapped his knee.

He let her go, standing up straight and moving away toward his water bottle, wiping his hand across his face. She straightened a little slowly, rubbing her neck and shaking her head.

Coulson's brow was furrowed in worry, and she gave him a warning look. The point of this was not for her to be handled with care. Coulson raised his eyebrows in a "what did I do?" gesture. He was still jogging at that same speed – she wondered how many miles he was at, by now.

"Ready?" Trip asked, capping his water bottle and tossing it to the side. Skye nodded and stepped toward him, and he grinned at the serious look on her face.

_His mistake._

This time when Trip found himself on his back, he drew his knees up slightly and grabbed the back of Skye's shirt with one hand and her shoulder with the other. He managed to get one of her legs between his knees, immobilizing her for a moment. She used her free foot to reach back and push against his knee; as soon as her leg was free she twisted around so that her body was perpendicular to his. She got her arms free and attempted to reach around and get him in a choke hold. He held his arms up and in to defend her attack, and she changed tactic, pushing one of his arms out enough to get her knee up and on top of his bicep. She rested her weight on top of it for a moment, and as soon as she felt his muscle relaxing she brought her other leg around to take its place, now positioning her left out past Trip's head. He tried to roll toward her, pushing her off, and she stepped her left leg over him and wrapped her right arm around his left, grabbing the fabric of his pants at his knee and pulling it back as well, as the momentum carried her body to the floor. His arm was trapped, she had control of the leg closest to her, and he was flat on his back again.

He tapped the floor.

Coulson said nothing as he walked by Skye letting Trip's arm drop to the floor, scooting away from him. He was smirking, though. Proudly. Skye grinned, leaning back on her hands.

Trip stayed where he was for a moment, catching his breath.

"The trick is, use their weight against them." Skye said.

"Why did I agree to this." Trip said.

... ... ...

There were only two showers that worked in the compound at the moment, and with Coulson in one and Skye in the other, Trip sat himself down at the kitchen counter, a large glass of water in his hand. May walked in and opened the fridge, looking for something to eat. Trip avoided her eyes.

"Skye's never going to let you live that down, you know." May commented, and Trip scoffed.

"Skye is the least of my problems on that note. _Coulson_ was watching – "

"Is that why he had such a smug look on his face?" May chuckled, and Trip frowned.

"He totally knew it, too. He _knew_ what was going to happen." Trip complained, staring at his glass of water.

"I wonder if her 0-8-4 status has something to do with her picking this stuff up so quickly," May mused as she left the room. Trip groaned and dropped his head to the counter.

"_Please _revoke her internet privileges."

... ... ...

Skye knocked on the doorjamb of Coulson's office door. He was sitting behind his desk, suited up as usual. This both comforted her and disappointed her at the same time.

"Hey, AC. Can I come in?" She asked, and he nodded and gestured toward the seat across from his desk.

"Yeah, I'm just pulling up your file now… I want to figure out what in here is true, what isn't, and what is missing." He replied, flipping through a pile of folders on his desk. "Here it is…" He pulled one of them out and pushed the others to the side. Skye was surprised that it wasn't as thin as she expected.

"I guess they've come up with some more data on me other than '0-8-4' and 'village deaths'," Skye mused, and Coulson gave her a wry look.

"Skye, you know that you didn't cause those deaths yourself," He reminded her, and she sighed and nodded, slouching in the chair and swinging her legs off the side. She ran her fingers through her still-damp hair, sliding it across the front of her shoulder.

Coulson thought she smelled good, and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"We need Simmons to run some more tests on this serum, I think." Coulson said seriously, and Skye looked at him with mild surprise.

"Really? You were so against testing, previously…" She pointed out, and he shrugged, not quite looking her in the eyes.

"It's becoming too distracting," He admitted calmly.

"Then why am I in here?" Skye interrupted him with mild alarm, remembering their previous agreement to never be alone together.

"Because I want you to be my second in command." He spoke quickly, before she could get up and move away.

Skye blinked.

"You want… what now?" She asked carefully, and he leaned forward, resting his forearms on top of his desk.

"Well, not _exactly_ second in command, because I don't want to put that kind of stress on your shoulders, but…" Coulson looked at her for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I could use your eyes, Skye. The way you think. You see things differently than everyone else."

"Yeah, because I'm a _rookie_. AC, you know better than anyone that I want to be a _real_ agent of SHIELD 2.0 or whatever we're calling it. And I totally want to help you out – I mean, anything you need, I'll do it." Skye said seriously, leaning forward in her chair as well. "But could you really see other people taking orders from me? Trip is great, and May and I are really hitting it off, but honestly. I could never be their _boss_."

"You don't have to be their boss, Skye," Coulson told her softly, "I just want you with me, figuring things out. Rebuilding SHIELD. Discovering our… past."

"Is this you," Skye asked carefully, "Or is this the serum?"

Coulson looked at her in silence for a while.

"This is me, Skye," He promised her, pointing toward her, "And _that_ is why you're the one I asked. You're not afraid to argue with me."

"Most people would call that a problem, sir." Skye said wryly, and Coulson smirked.

"I don't want a company of robots. I don't want people who always agree with me. One of the reasons Hydra got so far into SHIELD was because we were sheep. We followed orders blindly and we never questioned." Coulson said, and Skye nodded slowly.

"'Trust the system', right?" She quoted him softly, and he winced.

"Case in point." He admitted.

"Well," Skye sighed, relaxing back into her seat, "I suppose I can agree to question everything you say from here on out."

"Not quite what I meant, Skye."

"I know, Director." Skye said, grinning. She waited a beat, and then said, "So, this second in command stuff… we'd have to be alone together a lot for that, huh?"

Coulson nodded and leaned back.

"We need to figure out what's going on, if we can control it, if there are certain times that we should just avoid one another entirely,"

"What, like _mating season_?"

"Skye," Coulson sighed, squeezing his eyes closed. "I'm trying to be serious, here."

"I know, I know," Skye sighed as well. "Sorry. Humor. Defense mechanism."

"So you agree with me, then?" Coulson clarified, opening his eyes. Skye nodded.

"Yeah, I agree with you." Skye said. "I'm just not looking forward to seeing how Simmons is gonna take all this."

"It'll be fine," Coulson assured her. "Simmons is the one who discovered the blood anomaly in the first place, remember?"


	8. Maybe It's Us And Them

**A/N: **Woohoo, I found internet! It's a bit sketchy, though, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Stick with me, please! It's really great to have such cool people interested in something I'm writing. Thanks guys :-)

* * *

They agreed to see Simmons after lunch, finding her in the lab on the Bus.

"Hi, guys!" Simmons greeted them with a smile. She was doing much better now that Fitz seemed to be on the mend. "I'm just gathering up the last of the files here to take to the lab on the base."

"About that," Coulson stopped her, "Have you taken any of our, uh," Coulson glanced toward Skye, "work off of the Bus?"

"No, that's actually what I'm grabbing now…" Simmons trailed off. "Why?"

"I'd like you to keep it here." Coulson informed her. "I don't want record of it anywhere in the Playground." Simmons looked at him with surprise.

"Coulson… Should we really start off SHIELD 2.0 with more secrets?" Skye said quietly, her hand on his elbow to grab his attention.

"Remember what you said about people taking orders from you?" Coulson replied carefully. "What do you think people are going to do when they find out their new Director has alien DNA swimming around inside of him?" Skye knew he was right, and pulled her hand away. "You're right, though," Coulson continued, giving her a pleased look, "I don't want to start off with secrets." He turned toward Simmons, who was watching their exchange curiously. "Simmons, put all of this into a Level Ten file. I'll still redact most of it."

Skye nodded, knowing that they had to be careful about this, for a multitude of reasons. Least of which being that the two of them were probably, technically, quite compromised by this point.

"Yes, Sir…" Simmons agreed, pulling their files and samples out of the pile on the holo-table. There was a moment of awkward silence as Skye and Coulson stood there not quite looking at her, and she frowned. "Has something happened, Sir?" She asked carefully.

"Not exactly," Coulson replied.

"Not yet," Skye muttered dryly.

"We need you to take another blood sample." Coulson told her, slipping off his suit jacket.

"What – now?" Simmons asked, surprised, and Skye nodded, pulling the sleeve of her sweater up passed her elbow. "Of both of you?" They both nodded, and Simmons went about gathering the necessary items while Coulson rolled up his sleeve. Simmons heard Skye sigh longingly, and turned to give her a confused look. The two were staring at one another, and Simmons narrowed her eyes as she also pulled out a notebook with the handwritten scrawl, "CHEESE" on the front.

"What kind of symptoms are you experiencing?" Simmons asked as she laid everything out on an empty space on the table. She grabbed two of the desk chairs and moved them over for Coulson and Skye to sit.

"Um, well, I showed him those blood samples from a couple months ago, and explained what you had told me…" Skye began, biting her lip. Coulson looked calm, but avoided Simmons' eye.

"I was going to tell you myself, Sir, but everything got a little hectic…" Simmons said apologetically, and Coulson shrugged.

"It's fine, Simmons." He said. "The problem is… we're thinking that whatever was happening with the blood, is happening with _us_, now."

Simmons frowned as she thought, prepping the syringes. She handed each of them a cotton ball soaked in alcohol so they could dab it on their arms.

"The … attraction?" Simmons could not think of another word to use for it, and blushed, but Coulson was nodding seriously. The awkwardness slid away as Simmons fell into full scientist mode, and she pulled the notebook closer to her so she could jot something down in it.

"Have either of you felt any sort of attraction to one another before Skye was injected with the serum?" Simmons asked, focusing on pressing the needle into Coulson's skin. The silence was heavy, and she glanced up to see them giving one another a wary look.

"Um," Coulson said as Simmons pulled the needle away, pressing a small pad of gauze in its place. Coulson reached up to hold it there as she stepped away to put label the vial of blood and set it in the container along with the older samples.

"Is that important?" Skye asked, watching as Simmons repeated the same procedure with her arm. Simmons rolled her eyes.

"Of course it's important. I need to establish a base line so I can understand the changes in levels at which you're experiencing your symptoms." Simmons spoke as if Skye were a dimwit, and Skye frowned slightly.

"It's okay, Skye," Coulson finally said, speaking very softly.

"Fine. Yes, okay?" Skye looked away, frustrated, blushing.

"Yes?" Coulson repeated, sounding surprised.

"Of course!" Skye huffed, looking back his direction to glare at him. "We've been _over_ this, remember?" She said, and his ears turned pink.

Simmons looked at both of them carefully, shocked but trying to stay level-headed.

"How much, would you say, Skye?" Simmons asked quietly, and Skye sighed heavily.

"I don't know. A lot. But nothing I would ever act on, you know? I was never gonna act on it." She muttered, pressing the gauze against her skin once Simmons pulled the needle away, and folding her arms across her chest.

"You were never going to act on it?" Coulson asked, sounding bothered by that. Simmons labelled Skye's vial and set it next to Coulson's, making sure they were both dated correctly. She then added in the notebook that she had taken blood, the date, and left a space to write down her later observations of how the blood acted. She also wrote in: 'previous attraction between subjects, neither acknowledged nor acted on'.

"Of course not, are you kidding?" Skye looked at him with wide eyes. "You're AC!"

"As if that explains everything." Coulson scoffed, and Simmons cleared her throat.

"Agent – sorry – Director Coulson? What about you? Any previous attraction?" Simmons already knew the answer to this question, but wanted to make it fair to Skye and asked him to say it out loud.

She _had_ seen how he'd acted when Skye had gotten shot.

There was a long silence while Coulson struggled with himself.

"It's against protocol." He muttered finally, and Skye raised her eyebrows.

"_What_."

"Skye – "

"_No_." She stopped his argument. "_What_?"

"I'm your commanding officer, Skye!"

"I don't know whether to hit you, or kiss you." Skye growled, folding her arms again and staring straight ahead.

Simmons continued writing, particularly about the way they had argued. Skye was the only person who could get away with talking to Coulson like that.

"Well, now _that's_ been cleared up," Simmons spoke cheerfully, pulling their attention back toward her, "Why don't you tell me about what's been happening _after_ the injection of the serum?" They both looked sheepish, and Skye was the first one to speak.

"We've kissed," She admitted, and Simmons' eyebrows flew up to the top of her forehead.

"Multiple times," Coulson pointed out, and Simmons blinked at him.

"Pretty seriously, a couple times," Skye trailed off, smirked, and then Coulson cleared his throat loudly, pulling her back into focus.

"_You and Agent Coulson_…" Simmons reverted back to the title she was used to for him, sounding both awed and unsure at the same time. Coulson shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Anyway, the point is, sometimes we… most of the time – no, not most of the time… I don't know. There are points where we lose ourselves." Skye spoke quickly, and Simmons frowned thoughtfully as she wrote almost subconsciously in the notebook.

"Well, that tends to happen when you jump somebody right after they've gotten out of the shower," Coulson muttered under his breath, and Skye gave him a wide-eyed look while Simmons gave Skye the same look.

"It's _more_ than – this is something else, Simmons," Skye explained, flustered again. "I can't even describe it. But one minute it's like 'oh, this is new. This is good' and then the next it's 'finally, I've missed you, it's been so long' – it's like – I don't even know!" Skye threw her hands into the air, giving up.

"And is it the same in your opinion, Director Coulson?" Simmons asked, that thoughtful look on her face again.

"Yes," Coulson sighed, "Though I would hope to say it a little more eloquently than that." Skye made a face at him.

"So my second surmise was probably correct…" She mused. "You were given DNA from two of the same species. Two who were bonded in some way." Simmons said, fascinated with what has happened. Skye, however, looked slightly horrified.

"You mean this isn't going to _end_?" She was practically crying, and Coulson raised his eyebrow.

"As I recall, I'm not _that_ bad of a kisser." He pointed out, and there was a long moment of silence as Coulson and Skye stared at one another, and Simmons stared at the both of them. Simmons was bright red, and Skye had her head tilted to the side, as if she were trying to figure out how to reply to his statement.

"Why don't we take a look at the blood samples…" Simmons spoke slowly, moving toward the microscopes and setting up the video feed to put it on the screen.

"I don't think I can deal with this much longer." Skye said seriously, standing up and turning to face the screen. Coulson stood as well, moving his chair out of the way to stand next to her.

"It'll be fine," He reassured her, and she turned toward him.

"I don't think you understand the _wanting_ –"

"Oh, I want. _I want_." He stepped closer to her, pulling her body against his. She sucked in a breath, staring at him, and Simmons cleared her throat, having raised her head and caught them looking as if they were about to devour each other.

"Guys. Focus." She ordered, a myriad of reactions running through her. Fascinating, disturbing, and kind of adorable – but extremely uncomfortable to have it occurring right in front of her.

"Sorry, Simmons," Skye breathed, turning away from Coulson, her throat dry.

"Alrighty, then," Simmons murmured toward the screen as two windows popped up. It was a broad view of the blood samples, and they appeared normal. Simmons zoomed both microscopes in for a closer view, and still, the blood appeared normal in both color and movement.

"Well, that's a good sign," Simmons said with a smile, and noticed both Skye and Coulson visibly relax. "Let's see what happens when I do this," Simmons moved the instruments closer together, so that the bases were almost touching.

The sudden movement on screen was so violent that Skye jerked away from Coulson, although they hadn't even been touching. There was a small 'crack', and Simmons frowned and turned back toward the microscopes.

"Damn," She muttered, pulling one of the slides off and holding it up into the light. It had cracked, and the blood was slowly seeping through. She tossed it in the biohazard bin and prepared another slide.

"What was _that_?" Coulson demanded, and Simmons glanced at him carefully before focusing on her task again.

"That," She said, putting some distance between the microscopes before putting the new slide on, "Was your blood, Director Coulson."


	9. May's Got Jokes

"What do you think it means?" Skye asked with wonder, once she remembered to breathe again. She wasn't sure why that had made her jump so badly.

"Perhaps I'll become so enraged in sexual frustration that I'll spontaneously combust?" Coulson snarked, folding his arms across his chest. _This isn't __fascinating__, _he thought, _my blood just __attacked__. This could become __dangerous_.

"Who knew; death by sexual frustration? Not the worst way to go, I suppose," May's voice caused all three of them to jump, and Coulson glared at her.

"How long have you been there?" He demanded, and she shrugged.

"Not long. I just heard you mention spontaneously combusting." May stepped into the lab. "Koenig is looking for you. I don't know why. He's in one of his moods, again."

Sometimes Koenig got a little too fan-boyish over Coulson, and would seek him out and talk with him for hours. Not that Coulson minded _too_ much; he supposed he deserved it after what he'd put Captain America through. And Koenig really wasn't all that bad. He was decent competition in Call of Duty, too.

"Thanks, May." Coulson said. All four of them stood there for a moment. Coulson sighed and opened his mouth to say something else when Simmons suddenly spoke,

"You aren't compromised because you're _having_ sex – you're compromised because you _aren't_!"

This silence was even longer, and far more awkward. Skye stared at an empty spot on the ground with wide eyes, not wanting to see what look Coulson was sporting on his face this time.

"Well," May said, breaking the fast-growing tension, "You always did have a knack for breaking the rules in the most roundabout of ways, Coulson." May sounded amused, and Coulson stared at her with disbelief.

"Simmons, _what_ in the _world_ gave you that idea, and _what_ made you think it was okay to say it out loud?" Coulson asked the scientist very carefully, clenching his jaw.

"Well, Sir, I…" As Simmons tried to stammer out an answer, Skye groaned and put her head in her hands, leaning her hip back against the counter.

"What am I going to _do_?" Skye's moan was muffled into her hands, and May rolled her eyes.

"_Coulson_, obviously," May pointed out, and Simmons snapped her mouth shut and turned bright red immediately. Coulson whirled around and glared at May with a look of anger that almost resembled the one he gave her when he found out about her secret orders from Fury.

"Get. Out." He ordered her, and she listened. She was smirking as she walked away, though.

They all refused to look at one another for a few minutes, and Coulson took that time to calm down.

"Simmons," He spoke slowly, carefully, "I'm sorry that I yelled at you. Why don't you show me what made you come to your conclusion?" Simmons nodded quickly and pulled out a petri dish, some droppers, and the two vials of blood.

"Well, it wasn't really a conclusion, not really. More of a hypothesis. But I'd like to test it out…" She explained as she worked, drawing a bit of their blood into each of the droppers. Skye jerked her head up.

"What kind of tests?" She demanded quickly, and Simmons glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"With the blood, Skye. Tests with the blood." She calmed her friend, and Skye relaxed somewhat. She took a step away from Coulson, putting more distance between them. Coulson's lips twitched into a frown, but he didn't say anything.

They watched silently as Simmons put a couple drops of Skye's blood into the dish, waiting a moment before adding in the same amount of Coulson's. None of them were sure which exactly changed first, but the blood started swirling a bit, and faded from red to blue, until the entire sample was blue.

"Did you – " Skye started to ask about the swirling, but then the color started changing and she didn't even notice Simmons shaking her head.

Simmons quickly moved the dish under the microscope and pulled it into a close focus.

All three of them sucked in a breath.

The blood had changed.

It was no longer human.

... ... ...

As much as Skye and Coulson wanted to observe – it was _their_ blood, after all – Simmons shoved them out so she could perform more tests. She even thought to lock the door behind them, after promising that she wouldn't even include Fitz on her findings. Not yet, anyway.

Coulson and Skye walked down the hall slowly, side by side, close but not touching.

"I don't have any words." Skye said, staring off into the distance.

"I would make a Rising Tide joke about that, but I'm just as shocked as you are." Coulson replied in the same tone of voice.

After a minute Skye sucked in a strangled breath, and Coulson grabbed onto her, pulling her in.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay." He wrapped his arms around her, running his hand against her hair. "We're in this together, remember?" He soothed, and she nodded quickly, sniffing.

"Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, it's just… the shock of it, I think. I'm okay." Skye said, pulling away from him, swiping at her eyes. He kept his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "I'm okay." Skye promised, and he nodded, squeezing her shoulder.

"Take a break before dinner. We need time to process." He told her.

"Do we even know what we're processing?" Skye wondered, and Coulson shook his head lightly.

"Not completely. But I think –" Skye grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him toward her, kissing him hard. "What – what was that for?" He asked, flustered, when she let him go.

"Just wanted to see if one of us would spontaneously combust." She breathed.

"Skye." He had the warning tone, again.

"Hey, Simmons is running her own tests; we could run a few of our own, compare notes…"

"_Skye_."

"Or we could just keep it to ourselves. You're right – we wouldn't want to scar poor Simmons – "

He pushed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers without hesitating, leaning his head in to kiss her again. His kiss was not rough, but it was urgent, and soon his tongue was in her mouth and her hands were sliding through his hair.

"_AC_," She hummed quietly as his lips trailed along her jaw and down the side of her neck.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and she felt like her heart stopped for a second. She pushed at him, but he hadn't heard the approaching person and continued kissing her, his hands sliding up underneath her shirt. She flinched, laughed quietly, then pushed at him again, a little harder this time. He pulled back and looked at her, his eyes dark and his hands on her hips.

"What? Ticklish?" The corners of his eyes creased with amusement and she pushed his hands away, sliding out from between him and the wall, straightening her shirt.

"Someone's coming," She hissed, and he cleared his throat, all mirth falling away as he squared his shoulders and straightened his tie.

Agent Koenig looked surprised to see them, but broke out in a wide smile.

"I was sent down to get you guys to help with dinner!" Koenig said happily, and Skye and Coulson glanced at one another before nodding and moving quickly down the hall.

"Right, of course,"

"Yeah, May probably needs some help,"

"I could use a coffee,"

"Me too,"

Koenig watched them disappear around the corner, and laughed, shaking his head and continuing toward the hanger bay to fetch Simmons.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry that this one is a little short, but I was impatient to get it uploaded for you guys while I continue to work on the rest of the story. The great thing about spending some time alone is it gives you a lot of relatively uninterrupted thinking time - and I'm really excited about what I've got planned. I hope you guys end up liking it, too. :-)


	10. Ways To Cope

**A/N: Hey, so, reference to the comics in here if anybody catches it. :)**

* * *

Skye was sitting on the couch in Coulson's office two weeks later, her feet settled on the cushion next to her and her tablet propped up on bent knees. Coulson was sitting at his desk, working on a list of names. He was hoping to find some old friends that were still loyal to the agency, but he was finding it difficult to earn their trust when they couldn't have face-to-face meetings.

"We need some sort of secure network to be able to communicate." Coulson sighed, rubbing his eyes. Skye looked over at him.

"Um, hello? That's like my forte." She pointed out, and he moved his hand away from his eyes to look at her while he thought.

"It needs to be _very_ secure." He told her, and she gave him a wry look.

"C'mon, AC," She scoffed, and closed out the inventory she had previously been working on. She swung her feet down to the floor and stood up. "Don't freak out," She said when he'd frowned, "I'm just going to get my laptop."

She smirked at him as she left the room, and his frown deepened.

"I wasn't _freaking out_," He muttered.

There was a knock on his door and he looked up, frown falling away. Simmons was standing there, her notebook in her hands. He gestured her in and leaned back in his chair. She approached his desk but didn't sit.

"I don't have much of an update, yet, sir. I'm still running tests. I would just like to suggest to you… don't go exchanging blood with Skye anytime soon, okay?" Simmons told him, and he raised his eyebrow.

"I wasn't planning to, Simmons, but I'll keep that in mind," Coulson replied slowly, spying what was written on the front of Simmons' notebook, and furrowing his brow. "Cheese?"

"What?" Simmons asked, confused. He gestured with a nod of his head toward her notebook. "Oh!" Simmons laughed the way she did when she was nervous, and she flipped the book around. "My notes on you. Well, you and Skye, now. It started out with you, of course, when we first started running tests on GH-325."

"Cheese?" Coulson repeated, and Simmons shrugged.

"You know, like 'The Big Cheese'? I figured it would be better to use a codename than have a notebook with 'Agent Phillip Coulson' on the front of it."

"Ah," Coulson replied, giving her a small smile, and she relaxed, and even smiled back a little bit.

"How have your symptoms been since last week?" She asked, and he was mildly uncomfortable to watch her flip open the notebook to a blank page.

"It disconcerts me that you have notes on my love life." Coulson said, and Simmons looked uncomfortable as well.

"It usually helps if I keep focused on the science of it." Simmons admitted, shifting her feet. Coulson sighed.

"Skye and I haven't… We've stayed out of contact."

"What do you mean?"

"We haven't touched."

"At all?" Simmons sounded surprised.

"At all." Coulson confirmed.

"She's in here a lot, though, isn't she?" Simmons sounded surprised, and concerned, which Coulson narrowed his eyes at.

"She leaves the room if I ask her to." Coulson replied with a carefully stoic look on his face. "And she leaves the room if she feels the need to."

"No arguments?" Simmons still sounded surprised, writing furiously in her notebook.

"No arguments."

Simmons finished writing, and looked up toward him seriously.

"You can't do that." She told him in her 'doctor voice'. He looked surprised.

"I can't do that?" He repeated, narrowing his eyes and leaning forward. "What do you mean, 'I can't do that'?"

"It'll get worse." Simmons told him seriously. "Haven't you noticed anything already?"

There was a long moment of silence, and Coulson shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking away from her.

"I've been dreaming about her more lately." He admitted, still avoiding eye contact. He could hear her pen scratching into the paper, and sighed.

"What is the nature of these dreams?" She asked as she wrote.

"Is that pertinent?" Coulson replied shortly, and Simmons jumped slightly, hesitating.

"Um…"

"They're realistic." Coulson replied angrily, folding his arms across his chest, glaring at his desk.

"As in…"

"Let's just say all my biological functions are working properly, okay?" Coulson gave her a steely glare, and she blushed furiously.

She at least gave him the dignity to hold off on her notes until she returned to the lab. She waited a few moments before continuing her questions.

"Has this happened…" She couldn't even finish that one, but he knew what she was asking.

"Not since I was in high school," Coulson admitted, and he sounded… kind of amused. Simmons felt her cheeks grow warmer and she looked toward his fake window. It showed a picture of a beach, and she frowned, finally looking directly at him again.

"Sir, doesn't that picture… remind you of Tahiti?" She asked carefully, concerned, and he sighed.

"That's the point," he replied sadly. "It reminds me why we are here in the first place. It keeps me… grounded. The anger distracts me when I become too focused on thoughts of her."

"Sir… You shouldn't do that," Simmons told him again, softly. He narrowed his eyes toward her, and she continued before he could express his annoyance. "I've been running a long-term test along with some of the other things I've been doing. Keeping samples of the blood close together for long periods of time, but not allowing them to interact. This morning, I had removed the barrier between the two and allowed them to mix."

"And?"

"It just gets worse, sir." Simmons told him instead. "The desire only gets more intense. I'm not saying you should…" Simmons took a breath, sorted out her thoughts, and continued, "I think you should monitor your interactions. But don't _fight _them. I believe that carefully handled, minor, intimacy will help contain the attraction at least. But if you continue the way you are right now…"

"What?" Coulson asked firmly, his lips thinned.

"You _will_ do what both of you are afraid of. You _will_ lose control." Simmons was serious, and Coulson closed his eyes, a pained look on his face.

"I didn't want this." Coulson said quietly, and Simmons gave him a sympathetic look.

"I know, sir." She said softly.

"I'm an old fashioned man, Simmons," Coulson opened his eyes and looked at her; she'd never seen such vulnerability in his eyes before. "Things like sex… it's not a flippant thing. It's important. How is she supposed to know that when this serum is messing with us like it is? She's never going to know whether it's _me_ or whether it's the _serum_."

"She'll know," Simmons promised him, "If you tell her. Remember that Skye's not the stereotypical young woman. And she _knows_ you, sir." Coulson looked appeased, and she waited a moment before saying, "This is one of the reasons I believe my plan will help. That way, you can _choose_ when to take the next step."

"The fact that is a _when_, now, and not an _if_." Coulson replied quietly, and Simmons gave him a half smile before heading out of the room.

"I think it was always a _when_, Director." Simmons said at the doorway, and Coulson lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

Simmons disappeared and Skye walked in with her laptop open in her hands. She glanced up at him as she returned to her spot on the couch.

"What's that face for? Simmons have any news for us?" Skye asked, most of her focus pointed toward her laptop.

Coulson heaved a heavy sigh and stood, moving to the front of his desk. He hesitated there, and leaned back against it.

"How have you been handling our… arrangement?" He wondered, and she raised her eyebrow, suspicious of his casual tone.

"Fine," She trailed off, setting her laptop to the side. "Do I need to leave?" She asked, and he shook his head quickly, moving toward the couch and sitting next to her. She stiffened; part of the arrangement had been keeping a good couple feet of space between the two of them. Coulson turned to look at her.

"Simmons believes that what we are doing right now is dangerous." He told her, and she frowned.

"What part of what we're doing?" She wondered.

"The not touching part." He said, and Skye swallowed.

"Oh." She said.

He looked at her carefully for a moment, and raised his hand toward her. She flinched away, and he hesitated.

"If we're careful, we may be able to control it," He told her, and the look of determination on his face made her hopeful. She was also just hopeful for _him_; it had been agonizing these past weeks trying to keep from even just reaching out and sliding her hand across his as they worked together.

"She doesn't want day-by-day updates, does she?" Skye asked, and Coulson laughed.

"There's that humor," He said, pressing his palm against her cheek. Skye immediately closed her eyes and sighed, a smile forming on her face. She opened her eyes when his other hand pressed against the other side of her face, and he was smiling too. He looked at her for another long moment.

"AC," Skye whispered, giving him a small nod, giving him permission. He leaned in and kissed her softly and languidly, and she felt like it was the best kiss she'd ever had in her life. She slid her hands up to the lapels of his jacket, pulling him further toward her, and his fingers slipped into her hair.

Five minutes later, there was a knocking on the door, and they disentangled themselves quickly. Coulson stood and moved toward his desk, clearing his throat lightly.

"This stuff needs a warning label," Skye breathed, as Coulson readjusted his tie. "Warning: may cause intense, spontaneous make-out sessions. Symptoms also include constantly thinking about what makes your boss so freaking _hot,_ and dreaming every night about – "

"I think I get the warning label, Skye," Coulson growled out, his fingers gripping the edge of his desk.

"Right. Sorry." Skye fixed the hem line of her dress, smoothing it down as Coulson called into his office whoever it was on the other side of the door that had interrupted them.

"I thought that I should add – " Simmons stopped when she caught Skye's glare. "Um…"

"You should also add in your notes that Skye has experienced the same symptoms as I have." Coulson said to Simmons before Skye could say something, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What symptoms?" Skye demanded, forgetting her annoyance at the interruption, at the same time Simmons said,

"She _told_ you that?"

The two girls stared at Coulson with surprise. He smirked, and Skye threw her tablet stylus at him.

"_You've _had the dreams too? Why do you keep hiding these things from me?" Skye demanded, approaching him. He held his hands out to grasp her shoulders and keep her arms-length away.

"Excuse me for wanting to keep my sexual thoughts from the woman I'm trying to _woo_!" Coulson retorted, and Skye rolled her eyes.

"_God_, you're so old fashioned," She groaned in annoyance, grabbing his jacket and yanking him toward her, giving him an open-mouthed, dirty kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him, leaning his hips back against his desk.

"I would just like to remind the two of you that I'm still standing here." Simmons pointed out nervously, looking at an empty spot on the floor.

"Sorry, Simmons," Skye breathed, wiping her hand across her mouth and stepping away from Coulson. He looked a little short-circuited, and only blinked. "What did you want to add?" Skye still sounded a bit breathless.

"I – nothing, I think you've figured it out on your own." Simmons offered them a timid smile, and then disappeared. Skye stared at the empty doorway for a moment.

"You think she actually had anything to say, or was she trying to catch us in the act?"

"Please don't talk about us being in the act."

Skye grinned at Coulson, who was pinching his lips shut.

"I should get back to work on that program." Skye pointed out, and Coulson nodded, staring at her lips. "Okay?" She said, and he nodded again. She sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I can't concentrate when you're looking at me like that." She informed him, and he blinked his eyes up to meet hers.

"Looking at you like what?" He wondered, and she smiled, chuckling.

"I'm going to go work in my own office, okay?" She told him, and he looked disappointed.

"You don't have to. It's okay." He insisted, moving around to sit behind his desk.

"It's pretty boring, what I'm doing right now. This is all code work." Skye said, and he shrugged.

"I don't mind. I like your company." He said, and Skye smiled.

"I like your company too." She told him, sitting in the chair across from him.

* * *

**A/N.2: *sings* - I love reviews, reviews make me happy.  
****Thanks everyone who's favorited, reviewed, or even just read. You is kind, you is smart, you is important.**


	11. When Coping Mechanisms Backfire

**A/N:** Coulson and Skye try to work with Simmons' idea... to mixed results.

* * *

They fell into a comfortable routine, and still managed to keep their situation mostly under wraps. Usually, Coulson would greet Skye in the hall on his way to work out, give her a long hug, a kiss on the cheek (and sometimes on the lips, though that was more dangerous to do in public areas), and they would go about their day with no problems.

Sometimes, Skye would reach out and brush her hand across his during meetings. He became an expert at finding just the right moment to return the gesture, when no one else was paying attention.

Simmons was still running her tests, and asking them for very non-specific updates as the weeks passed.

Then Skye had started leaving the Playground more, going out with Trip on "Welcome Wagon" missions and trying to find safe locations to meet other SHIELD agents. At the rate she was going, racking up so many field hours, she would reach Level Two in no time, and Coulson was very proud of that. If he had it his way, she'd be at least Level Six already, but he didn't want to give the impression that he was abusing his stance of power. That, and he was pretty sure Skye would get very angry with him if he didn't allow her to work for it herself.

She was kind of wonderful, in that way.

Coulson shook his head to clear his thoughts, and realized that he was standing in the middle of the hall, facing the hangar bay. He frowned slightly, wondering how he had arrived here, when his original destination had been his office.

He picked up on the sound of an engine motoring down, and he couldn't help but take an anticipatory step forward. He clasped his hands in front of him, squeezing his fingers.

He was here because Skye and Trip were just arriving back, and he'd wanted to greet them – hell, he might as well be honest. He wanted to see Skye. The problem with her leaving the building so much was that they couldn't get in as much of their 'monitored affection', and he found himself becoming restless.

A minute later, Trip and Skye rounded the corner, bags slung over their shoulders and harried grins on their faces.

"Well, _that_ one was fun. Wait until I tell AC; he's going to have a _cow_," Skye was speaking animatedly to Trip, and cut off when she realized Coulson was standing there in the hall. She stopped walking immediately, and her smile widened further. "Hey, AC," She greeted warmly, and Coulson narrowed his eyes toward the bloody cut above her eyebrow, and the slight bruising on her cheek.

"Hello, Sir." Trip greeted, somewhat surprised to find Coulson simply standing there. "Turns out our tip was a hoax. Skye – "

"You should have _seen _his Captain America collection!" Skye interrupted, and Coulson was momentarily distracted from her wounds. "No cards, unfortunately. I asked."

"That's disappointing." Coulson admitted truthfully, touched that she would have attempted to replace some of his old collection. Trip rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face.

"_Anyway_, like I was saying," He said with a pointed look toward Skye, "she had a bit of a run-in with an old Rising Tide buddy." Coulson's expression clouded and he narrowed his eyes again, this time toward Trip. "It was quickly handled, don't worry," Trip quickly continued, "by a misplaced headbutt."

Skye frowned, looking away with embarrassment. Coulson stared at her.

"You headbutted someone?" He asked incredulously, and she shrugged, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "That's not exactly the most _recommended_ way to defend yourself," Coulson scolded her dryly, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"It worked, didn't it?" She muttered, and Trip chuckled, shaking his head.

"That's about it, sir. I'll write up the full report and get it in to you tomorrow." Trip said, and Coulson nodded. Trip nudged Skye companionably with his shoulder, and then left the two of them alone in the hall. They stared at one another for a moment.

"Come on," Coulson sighed, "Simmons should look at that."

"It's hardly a scratch!" Skye argued, and Coulson raised his eyebrow at her.

"You'll be lucky if it doesn't need stitches." He said, and she huffed, walking with him down the hall.

They had arrived at his office and he was holding the door open for her before he realized the mistake.

"Um, AC?" Skye asked, her own eyebrow raised. "Ow, okay, yeah. That hurts." She commented, dropping the duffel next to the couch and sitting down, touching her fingers gently to her forehead.

Coulson was frowning, confused, but he slowly shut his office door anyway.

"I keep finding myself places I don't mean to be," He admitted to her, and she looked up at him, concerned.

"Have you been doing anything dangerous?" She asked, and he shook his head.

"I just end up in strange rooms." He told her, and moved toward the bathroom in the back corner of the room. He spoke through the open doorway as he hunted through the cabinets, "I've got stuff here, at least. I can patch it up."

"Alright, Doctor AC," Skye said wryly, and he was making a face when he entered the room, supplies in hand.

"You'll need to learn some medical too, you know, for field work. Have you been studying with Simmons?" He asked her, and she sighed.

"Yes, _Professor_." She grumbled, and he smirked lightly at her.

"Doctor, Professor – what other professions am I going to have by the end of this conversation?" He teased, and she gave him a cheeky look.

"Director, Agent, Babysitter, Commanding Officer," She counted off on her fingers, and he groaned, holding his free hand up in the air.

"Alright, alright, that wasn't a challenge," He complained, amusement in his eyes. "Do you mind sitting on the edge of my desk? I'll be able to see what I'm doing better."

She looked at him carefully as she nodded, standing and moving to his desk. Because no, this wasn't kind of like situations she had dreamed of happening in his office. Not at all. She sat on the edge of the desk and carefully brushed her hair back away from her forehead. When he set the medical supplies on the desk next to her and stepped closer, she reached out and touched a finger to his chest.

"Avenger…" She murmured, and he halted, staring at her.

"You… You heard that?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I didn't mean to. I'd come up to, uh, well," Skye thought better than to bring up that particular subject at the moment, "I'd accidentally hung around with my ear pressed against the closed door." She admitted, and Coulson gave her a wry look. "It made me so happy," She told him seriously, and he smiled softly.

"Me, too." He admitted, and they just smiled at each other for a few moments, until he remembered that she was still bleeding slightly. "Let's get you fixed up," He said, stepping closer to her, rolling his sleeves up.

Skye bit her lip, and closed her eyes.

"How much does it hurt?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"It just stings a little. I just… don't want to distract you if you've gotta stitch me up." She told him.

"Right." He murmured, and paid very close attention to taking care of her wounds. The stitches were minimal, and she only flinched slightly when he'd dabbed the wound with alcohol. When he was finished, he brushed his thumb lightly against her temple, just underneath the wound. "The bruising is going to look nice, by tomorrow." He told her, and she let out a long sigh.

"Guess I shouldn't plan on going out on any dates for the next couple of days, then," She mused, and opened her eyes to see him giving her a serious look. His fingers slid down to her neck, and then across the back as he pressed his palm against her skin.

He stepped closer to the desk, standing just inside the space between her knees, and leaned in to brush his nose against the unharmed side of her face. He nuzzled the sensitive spot just below her ear, and she sucked in a breath, her fingers clenching the lapels of his jacket.

"When was the last time we touched?" He breathed against her skin, and she struggled to answer him.

"Just a couple days ago," She stammered, reaching to unbutton his jacket, sliding her hands against his shirt.

"We used to be able to go weeks," He said against her neck, his nose pressed against the hollow dip between her collarbone and shoulder. Skye let out a little whimper, her fingers grasping at his shirt now, and he quickly lifted his head, urgently pressing his mouth against hers. She pulled at him and he stepped closer, her thighs pressing against his hips. He traced her lip with his tongue, and then his tongue was running across the roof of her mouth, and she was moaning and pulling at him, wanting him closer. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her forward to the very edge of the desk, holding her body against his. One of his hands slid to the back of her knee, and he shifted his hips slightly.

"Coulson!" She gasped out a whisper, her hands in his hair. She tugged a little harder than intended, and it made him clear-headed enough to wrench himself away from her.

"I'm sorry," He gasped heavily, struggling to gather himself, "I'm sorry." He took another step back, more than an arm's length away now, and ran trembling hands across his face.

Skye sat where she was, chest heaving and staring at him with wide eyes. She clenched the edge of his desk with her fingers, craving the solid heat of his body even more.

"Phil," She managed to say, her tone strangled.

"Don't!" He interrupted quickly, looking at her with fright in his eyes. "Don't," he repeated, softer, and she frowned, biting her lip. "Just give me a minute," He said shakily, before she could say anything else. He closed his eyes and took some measured deep breaths. Skye didn't move a muscle, hardly blinking as she watched him. When he finally opened his eyes again, he appeared relatively calmer, which was fine and dandy for _him_, but _she_ felt like she was about to fall apart.

"Coulson," She said quietly, and his brow furrowed apologetically.

"Skye," He sighed. "I shouldn't have done that." She stared at him hard, then nodded slowly in agreement.

"I need to go," She said, and watched the self-deprecation cross his face. She finally moved, sliding off the desk and reaching out toward him. "Don't do that," She said, stopping herself, pulling her hand back before she could touch him. "Don't blame yourself like this was _wrong_."

"But _Skye_, we almost – "

"Like doing it on your desk is a bad thing?" Skye interrupted, running her hands through her hair, using her frustration to calm down all the other emotions raging through her.

He twitched violently.

They were caught in another staring match when there was a knock on the door, and Simmons' voice was calling out,

"Is Skye in there? I heard she was hurt."

Coulson sucked in a breath, and almost looked angry for a moment, before turning and moving toward the door.

"I patched her up," He said without preamble, pulling the door open. Simmons jumped, took in his appearance, and glanced around him to look at Skye.

"Oh." She said. "I trust you did a good job, then." She trailed off, glancing between the two of them. "Shall I walk Skye back to her bunk?" She asked carefully, trying to be respectful.

"Please." Coulson said, and he and Skye both looked relieved. Skye hurried toward her bag and slipped it over her shoulder, sliding passed Coulson before Simmons could say anything else. "Wait," Coulson reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. Skye looked at him, and they were too close, but Simmons was right there next to them, so he didn't worry too much.

"Not a bad thing." He said darkly, rotating his jaw. "Not a bad thing at all." When he saw Skye's eyes widen, he let go of her arm and disappeared back into his office, shutting the door on both of them. Simmons furrowed her brow.

"What was that about?" She wondered, and Skye sucked in a strangled breath.

"Nothing," She cleared her throat. "Nothing." She stared off into space for a second, and Simmons put her hand on Skye's shoulder, jarring her back into focus.

"Come on, Skye. Let's get you to bed."

* * *

**A/N.2: **It's nice for Skye and Coulson that Simmons is the only one truly aware of what's going on, but I'm starting to feel bad for Simmons. How awkward for her. :/

Usually I read over these about ten times before I post them, but this one only got two or three overviews. I apologize if there are any errors. If you catch something I have missed, don't be afraid to message me about it. I'll fix it right away!

lee-lo the assassin, I'm sure you understand what I mean when I say that this one was really hard for me to write... Oof.


	12. Memory Is A Fickle Thing

**A/N: **About a week or so later...

* * *

"I can't find anything on Raina," Coulson leaned back in his chair, frustrated. Skye furrowed her brow.

"I haven't found anything either." Skye thought for a moment. "Do you think Cybertek would have had something on her?"

"You mean if she was a part of the incentives program? I don't think so. She seemed to be using Garrett for her own gain; I don't think he needed any incentive for her. I don't think she's strictly Hydra. I think she chooses to be with whomever can be the most help to her." Coulson said.

"And Garrett helped her get to you, and the serum," Skye figured, and Coulson nodded.

"And helped her get to _you_ as well," He reminded her carefully, and she frowned.

"Ward said she had told him I'm a monster."

"You're not." Coulson said firmly.

"We could _both_ be monsters, you know." Skye raised her eyebrow at him. "All the time Simmons has been spending on research and we still know next to nothing about the serum."

"It's the _actions_ we choose to make, that matter. Regardless of what's in our blood. You remember when I commended you for your compassion toward Ward? A monster wouldn't have done that, Skye. A monster wouldn't have thought twice before ensuring its own survival."

After a moment, Skye gave him a small smile, temporarily appeased. She knew that this would weigh on her mind until she could figure out the truth about her parents, but that was a puzzle she had been dealing with for her entire life, so it wasn't too difficult to push it to the side once more.

"Even though she was using Garrett, he was using her, as well. He _had_ to have had something on her… a file, somewhere."

"If he did, it's in one of the storage rooms around here. I need to set up contact with a few SHIELD agents; why don't you see if Koenig wants to help you search?" Coulson suggested, and Skye smirked at him.

"You are so pulling the Director card, right now." She called him out, standing up and flipping the cover closed over her tablet. Coulson smiled up at her, but didn't say anything else, and focused back on his computer screen. Skye shook her head and laughed. "Fine. Grunt work, it is." She stopped at the doorway. "If I find this, and we discover where she is, I want your word that I'm on that recovery op."

Coulson looked up at her quickly, and she could see him formulating an argument.

"Please, AC, don't fight me on this one." Skye spoke seriously; she wasn't begging. He must have seen something in her eyes, because he eventually nodded.

"Make sure you keep up your training with Triplett." He said, looking back toward his computer. Skye nodded and closed the door behind her quietly. He wasn't happy about the idea, but he was allowing it.

Which was good, because regardless of his decision, she would've found a way to be there, and that would have made him even more angry.

Looking forward to some alone time, she didn't bother messaging Koenig. She could ask him at dinner this evening if he'd be able to help her out tomorrow. It seemed like she never got much 'me-time' these days, and she was starting to notice how antsy it made her.

From her past searches, she knew some of the storage rooms didn't have what she was looking for, so she walked further down the hall toward one of the back rooms. There were still many that she hadn't been in yet, and she really hoped that she would find the Raina file sooner rather than later. She did _not_ want to spend the next month digging through file boxes in dark and dusty rooms.

She opened a door to her right and took a glance inside. It didn't appear too bad, from first appearances, and she had to start somewhere.

Most of the things in this room were weapons boxes and odds and ends that Garrett had brought on to the Bus when he had stolen it. Skye shivered and looked away, pushing that memory back into its box.

Spying a couple filing boxes further in behind the shelves, she maneuvered toward them, looking warily at the old glass door that Garrett had scribbled over. She wasn't sure why it gave her such an eerie feeling – other than the fact that it was something Garrett had done.

Shaking the creeping feeling away, Skye pulled open an old Rising Tide podcast on her tablet, setting it on a nearby desk to offer a little background noise while she worked.

She no longer agreed with a lot of what the broadcasters said. Their intention was good, but their information was so one-sided… and she understood the need for secrets, now. She understood the need for SHIELD.

Skye smiled to herself as she rifled through the first box of files. She had Coulson to thank for a lot of her changed views. He had once told her about how she had changed the way he looked at things, as well, so she figured they were even on that subject.

She hadn't realized an hour had gone by until the podcast changed, and Miles' voice filled the room. She scowled and turned to change it, and froze. Her eyes widened slowly as she took in the image on the wall. It was _huge_ and sprawling, spanning up as far as she could see by the light, all the way down to the floor, and a number of feet across.

"I've seen this before," She whispered aloud, knowing it was true, but not quite remembering. She kept her eyes on it and blindly reached for her tablet. She took a picture of it, and stepped forward hesitantly. "Did I do this?" She wondered, curious as to why she sort of recognized it. She stared at it for another moment, and that creeping fear started inching up her back, and suddenly she didn't quite like being in a dark room with a bunch of stuff Garrett had touched.

Skye burst into Coulson's office and hurriedly shut the door behind her, and he looked up at her with alarm.

"What's wrong?" He asked, standing quickly, wondering if they were being attacked. Skye approached his desk quickly and set her tablet down in front of him.

"Look!" She insisted, and he frowned, relaxing slightly, reaching for her tablet slowly.

"Look at what?" He asked as he opened the cover. Skye hesitated.

"I…" She frowned. "It's important!" She knew that much.

"Okay," Coulson said calmly, concerned about how anxious she was. He turned on the screen, and stared at it for a long time before speaking.

"Where is this?" He asked carefully. Skye opened her mouth to reply, and then frowned. He glanced up at her, realizing her confusion. "Is this in a storage room?" He asked, and she nodded quickly.

"Yes, that's where I've just come from." She sounded relieved, and Coulson's stoic expression slipped into a frown.

"You've forgotten," He realized carefully, and she looked perturbed.

"I think this has happened before," She whispered. "I think I've seen the map before, and for whatever reason, I keep _forgetting_ about it…"

"Map?" Coulson asked sharply.

"Yes, it's on the wall." Skye replied, and he grabbed her tablet and walked around his desk.

"Show me," He ordered. Skye led him down the hall, but she walked hesitantly.

"I don't remember which room I was in…" She let out a noise of frustration, and he reached out to grasp her arm gently.

"It's okay," He soothed. "Let's just walk down this hall and see if you remember." She relaxed a little, and nodded, giving him a sheepish look.

"Sorry. This is just… frustrating. And a little scary." She admitted, and a dark look flashed across his face.

"Trust me Skye, I know. I know what it's like when you're _aware_ that there are memories that are missing, but you're not exactly sure what they're memories _of_…"

Skye pulled his hand into hers, and squeezed it tightly. He leaned in to press a kiss on her forehead, and when he pulled away, she noticed the door that they were passing was slightly ajar.

"Maybe this is it," She pulled him to a stop, and he opened the door carefully. He led the way inside, eyeing the glass door from the Bus as they passed.

"Here it is," Skye whispered, and Coulson let go of her hand and approached the wall curiously.

"This looks like what Garrett etched into that door," Coulson said, and looked at Skye carefully. "What makes you think it's a map?" Skye gestured toward it, giving him her 'isn't it obvious' face.

"Because it _is_ one. I mean, I've never seen somebody draw out a map like this before; it's kind of awesome."

"You can read it?" For some reason, this alarmed Coulson. If she can understand something that was similar to something Garrett had done…

"Well, not easily. I mean, I can kind of understand some things here, but it doesn't really make much sense. 1's and 0's, you know? Basic computer language…like Pictionary. Or, no – like cave drawings. It's the stick-figure version of computer speak." Skye explained, and Coulson nodded, slightly relaxed, but not by much. Maybe it wasn't as alien as they thought. Coulson suddenly felt like he had to get her out of this room, and he put his hand on her back, pushing her lightly toward the door.

"It freaks you out, too, doesn't it?" Skye asked, allowing him to herd her out of the room. He shut the door firmly behind him, and locked it.

"It… concerns me." He conceded. "I'm the only one with this set of keys – so we're the only ones who can get in here. Do you understand?" He told her seriously, and she nodded.

"Protect the rest of the team from this. I remember." Skye said determinedly. "I'd like to study it, and see if I can figure it out. Is that okay? Maybe between my AC-time and hunting down that Raina file?" She asked. He wasn't too certain about her idea, but he knew _somebody_ had to look into it, and he didn't want to bring Simmons in on this. Not yet. She was already preoccupied with the serum itself, and preparing for Fitz's move from medical into his own quarters.

"Let's see if Simmons has gotten anywhere with her research, first." Coulson said, and she nodded.

When they got back to his office, they sat silently for a few minutes.

"Skye," Coulson broke the silence, a frown on his face, "Do you remember why we went into the storage room?" Skye gave him a solemn look.

"Yes, I do." She replied, and his frown deepened.

"I haven't forgotten, either," He said carefully. "What made you forget, before?" His question was rhetorical, and they just looked at one another as they thought of the implications of what little they knew.

* * *

**A/N.2: **Once again, many thanks for the time and attention you've been giving this story. You all are too kind.

In case you were wondering - for the purposes of this story, my idea of the wall is that it is a map **of something** [ ;) ] drawn out kind of like a circuit board. In reality, my personal beliefs are a little different. I'll continue to clear it up in the post script as the story moves along. Don't want to give anything away too early :)

I finished writing and posted this one at an ungodly hour of day, so if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out to me. Hugs for all of you (and if you're not a hugger, high fives). :)


	13. There's Something In The Air

Skye had wired up three monitors at her desk, so she had multiple things running at once. She was currently focused on the screen furthest right; it was filled with open windows and the notepad in front of her had scribbles all over it. She'd pulled an all-nighter, getting caught up in her research on 'The Wall', and she hadn't found a single piece of useful information.

There was a light knock on her door, and she quickly minimized all the windows and turned toward the door.

"Come on in," She called out, and Simmons poked her head into the room.

"I was wondering if I could catch you before breakfast, and ask you some questions… why are you in here so early?" Simmons asked, and Skye rubbed the back of her neck, leaning into her chair.

"Yeah, sure, come on in. Sorry I don't have an extra seats in here," Skye said, and Simmons shook her head, entering the room and leaning her hip against one of the other desks.

"No problem."

"I, um… actually have been in here all night," Skye admitted, and Simmons gave her a disapproving look. "I got caught up in work."

"Skye, you've been spending too much time with Director Coulson. You're turning into him," Simmons teased, and Skye laughed.

"I'm not _that_ bad," She joked. "So… how has your research been coming along?" Skye asked carefully, and Simmons sighed in frustration.

"Not very well. There's not much I can do without knowing _what_ the serum really is; where it came from. All I can say is that mixing the blood causes very strange reactions – which shouldn't really be a problem for you two, since you don't go around making blood pacts all the time."

Skye was surprised by Simmons' sarcasm, but she figured the scientist was more than a little frustrated, by this point.

"And the _blood_ doesn't exactly explain the… other reactions you two have been exhibiting." Simmons added, frowning at the notebook she held in her hands. She looked up at Skye quickly. "Have you been having any sleeping problems? Other than getting caught up in work, I mean?"

"Insomnia, you mean?" Skye asked, and Simmons nodded.

"Sure. Or… bad dreams? Anything unsettling?"

"Depends on your definition of _unsettling_," Skye muttered, crossing one knee over the other and leaning her chin against her palm. "I mean, my dreams are fine, other than the one's I have about Coulson, and then I wake up _quite _'unsettled'."

Simmons made a face.

"I don't need details." She said, and Skye nodded.

"Good." Skye took a deep breath. "Insomnia… I guess I haven't been sleeping as much. It hasn't been a real problem – I just get around five hours of sleep now instead of six or seven."

"We have all been fairly busy, lately," Simmons agreed, jotting down notes. "This hasn't affected your productivity in any way?"

"Nope," Skye shook her head. _I'm not having much luck with my research, anyway. _She bet Simmons would be able to help her a little, but she and Coulson had agreed to keep this from the team, for now. _We have to keep the team safe. If Simmons discovers something... I don't want to put her at that risk. It's already bad enough that people are after Coulson and I._

"How about your, ah, affection? Has it diminished? Increased? Changed in any way?"

"Is that really important to our problem, or is this just friendly curiosity?" Skye mused, raising her eyebrow, and Simmons laughed nervously, glancing away.

"Although I _do_ think – and you've both confirmed – that you were attracted to one another pre-serum, I believe that post-serum there are imbalances in your systems." Simmons hesitated, then smiled hesitantly toward Skye. "I'm also kind of interested." Skye shook her head, a little embarrassed.

"It's weird," Skye admitted. "And unpredictable. We'll have days where we have no problems at all; I sit in his office, we talk about work, and it's like none of this ever happened."

"… But…?" Simmons prompted, and Skye sighed.

"But there are other days that start out no different – except I can't even _look_ at him without thinking 'sex'." Skye said, and Simmons blinked, leaning her head to the side a little. She wrote something in her notebook, and chewed on the end of her pencil for a few moments before speaking.

"Have you physically lost control?" She asked, and Skye shook her head.

"Sometimes I catch him staring at me, but he looks away too quickly for me to call him out on it, or for me to react to it."

"Staring at you?"

"You know," Skye said pointedly, and Simmons pinched her lips together, looking back down at her notebook. "But no, we haven't lost control or anything like that."

"Has any of this…" Simmons couldn't think of a good way to get around it, "inability to look at him normally happened during an operation?" Skye made a weird face, but answered,

"No. Granted, we've planned most of them so that we don't see one another during the op."

"That's smart," Simmons approved, writing. Skye rolled her eyes. "I want to explain to you some of my theories," Simmons said, shifting her feet, and Skye sat up straight, giving the scientist her full attention. "I would like to do some testing with the two of you, if you wouldn't mind, to see if any of my theories hold any weight."

"What kind of testing?" Skye asked carefully, and Simmons quickly explained,

"Nothing that would make anyone uncomfortable. For instance, from some of my observations, I wonder if you are releasing some kind of pheromones, specifically tailored toward one another. I would like to put the two of you in a room together, in varying states of mood, and see how the other person reacts. Or how one presence effects the other."

"Why do I feel like a lab rat?" Skye muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry," Simmons said sincerely. Skye shook her head.

"No, I know, I know. It's hard to study stuff that doesn't exist…" Skye glanced at her computer desk. "Pheromones? Like, what animals do? And what do you mean from some of your observations?"

"There have been a couple of times that Coulson's been frustrated and tense during briefings. Every time, you stand next to him, and by the end of the meeting, he's relaxed and occasionally even making his horrible jokes."

"Hey, his jokes aren't that bad." Skye said, and Simmons gave her a look. "Okay, yeah, you're right. His puns are pretty awful sometimes." Skye shuddered, and Simmons smiled.

"Traditionally, pheromones such as the one's we're talking about haven't been found in humans, but since neither of you are no longer completely human…" Simmons trailed off, and Skye looked disturbed for a moment.

"So my joke about mating season might actually be a _real _concern?!"

"Um…" Simmons wrinkled her nose. "Do I want to ask?"

"No, no." Skye quickly shook her head.

"I wouldn't be concerned about anything such as that," Simmons continued. "For the most part, your biology is still almost entirely human. However… with the fact that your frequent but minor physical contact has diminished the amount of times the two of you lose control, I believe that physical contact is very important with the species." Skye relaxed somewhat, comforted that she and Simmons were sort of on the same page.

"And because you don't seem to be causing the same reactions in any one else in the team, I believe that the two of you are the only ones able to pick up on each other's pheromones. I'd like to see to what extent these things work. I've observed your ability to calm him down, and we both know that you can also… rile him up,"

Skye barked out a laugh, and Simmons blushed bright red.

"With the help of the Retriever's, and inside of an enclosed room, I might be able to pick up on some of the airborne molecules, and I would be able to study them further." Simmons finished quickly. Skye shrugged slowly.

"Sure, I guess. I mean, sitting in the same room together is all we do now, anyway. Would we be able to work while we're doing this?" Skye asked.

"Occasionally," Simmons replied, "But I'd like to study varying different factors and situations."

Skye wondered if she was going to hate herself later for agreeing to this. Coulson might.

"Alright." Skye agreed. "Anything that will get us closer to figuring this whole thing out." Simmons grinned widely.

"Fantastic!" She stood away from the desk and wrote frantically in her notebook. "There is a lot I'm going to have to prepare before we get started on this… perhaps by the end of the week, we can have our first session?"

Skye groaned.

"This sounds like a therapy session."

"This is biology, chemistry; not psychology." Simmons corrected, and Skye leaned her head on her hand again.

"Any other of your theories you wanna tell me?" Skye asked before she left the room.

"Oh…well…" Simmons hesitated. "With both of you exhibiting such an increase in libido, I really believe that there will come a point where holding back will become dangerous." She spoke as gently as possible, and Skye scoffed, looking off to the side.

"We're handling it."

"One of these days will come an operation where you will be forced to work together on the field. You can't be focused on each other – "

"I _know_. We both _know_." Skye interrupted, looking back toward Simmons. "That danger was there when we were just regular old SHIELD agents. Now we're aliens, too. And he's the Director. And I'm an 0-8-4. Simmons, we're already constantly in danger. We _know_ not to be stupid during an op."

Simmons looked apologetic.

"I just … couldn't lose either of you." Simmons admitted softly, and Skye rubbed her hand across her eyes, softening her tone.

"Sorry, Simmons." She sighed, and smiled lightly at her friend. "It's been a long night. I know you're just looking out for us. I appreciate it."

"Director Coulson…" Simmons bit her lip, glancing toward the door. "He's a particular man."

"Yes." Skye agreed, and Simmons quickly continued before she could go off track,

"Just… when the time comes, when it feels right to you… you need to make sure he knows." Simmons said, and Skye squinted at her. "He won't make the first move if he believes you are being influenced by the serum." Simmons finally said.

"I don't know; some of the kisses we've shared…"

"He's very particular about sex." Simmons said, and Skye raised her eyebrows.

"Wow, Simmons – sex and Coulson in the same sentence, and not one hesitation. I'm proud of you." Skye teased, and Simmons glared at her.

"I'm trying to keep this all very clinical," She said slightly reprovingly, and Skye held her hands in the air. "I'm going to get some breakfast. I suggest you join me." Simmons pointedly ended the conversation, and moved to the doorway.

"Yeah… I'll need coffee, too, to get through the rest of this day." Skye stood and stretched slowly.

"It hasn't even started, yet," Simmons teased, and Skye groaned, locking the door behind her as they stepped into the hall.

By the time they reached the dining area, they were engaged in a safe conversation about Doctor Who, though Simmons was doing most of the talking. The rest of the team were already gathered in the room, and Skye groaned quietly when she noticed Coulson by the coffee machine.

"It's gonna be one of those days," She muttered, and Simmons hesitated, glancing toward her boss.

"Take advantage of it," Simmons suggested, and Skye looked at her in surprise. She was looking toward the tables, however, where Fitz sat carefully propped up next to Trip. Skye's expression softened and she squeezed her friend's hand.

Fitz was doing far better, but he still looked very rough. He was pale, drawn, and had dark circles under his eyes. He was still hooked up to an IV line, and the bag hung on the stand next to him, an uncomfortable shadow. Skye had visited him multiple times while he had still been secluded in the medical room, but she had been the one to do all the talking. She was sure that he spoke with Simmons, at least a little, but she didn't think anyone else has heard his voice yet.

"Go sit with him. I'll get your breakfast." Skye offered, and Simmons smiled gratefully. She told Skye what she would like, and quickly moved toward Fitz, giving him a smile. He looked up from his plate when she sat across from him, and Skye could see a change in his eyes, but he didn't smile back.

Skye bit her lip once she was at the counter, facing away from the others. She wished she could help Fitz. She missed him – but he hadn't been the same since Ward.

None of them had been the same since Ward, really.

"Skye?" Coulson's soft voice made her jump, and a tear landed on the countertop. He had slid next to her, his shoulder touching hers. She quickly swiped at her eyes, sniffing lightly. "He'll be okay." Coulson assured her, and she nodded. Her hands shook as she pulled out bread to put in the toaster, but she pretended that they weren't. Once she pressed the lever down, Coulson reached over and placed his hand on top of hers, rubbing his thumb across her skin. She took a deep breath, held it in for a moment, and then let it out slowly.

"Thanks," She whispered, glancing up to see his furrowed brow. He nodded, his hand slipping away, and he turned his gaze back toward fixing up his cup of coffee.

"Would you like some?" He asked quietly, and she nodded, reaching for an apple. She watched him make the coffee while she waited on the toaster. His movements were slow, methodical, and he didn't ask before dumping in the two creams and one sugar that she preferred.

She got caught up in the movement of his fingers, and jumped when the toaster popped.

One slice with marmalade and one with strawberry, she grabbed the two plates and Coulson followed with their coffees. Skye smiled at Simmons when she set her plate down in front of her, and Simmons returned a grateful smile, but Skye moved to sit at one of the other tables further away. Coulson followed, still silent, and sat across from her without question.

"Did you stay up all night?" He asked, watching her eat. Skye knew she looked a little worse for wear, so she didn't bother trying to lie.

"Yes… tried finding _anything_ about those symbols on The Wall. Zilch. I'm sure SHIELD has some documentation _somewhere_ – this _is_ alien, after all – but I haven't even come across any redacted files."

"It could be an alien we haven't come across, before." Coulson pointed out, taking a sip of his coffee. Skye stared at his lips as she replied,

"But it isn't, because Fury had it locked up in a facility and was running tests on it." Coulson winced, and began softly,

"Skye, _I _was – "

"Fury was the one who decided to keep this all a secret. Even now, he hasn't told you anything about TAHITI. But if May found that message between the two of you, there _has_ to be more documentation. Somewhere." Skye interrupted.

"It could have all been in that facility," Coulson admitted unfortunately. "I blew it up."

"You were pressed for time," Skye shrugged lightly, and Coulson gave her a look. Skye grinned at him, and his eyes did that 'almost-smile' thing that she loved. "You and I both know that a man like Fury doesn't put all of his eggs in one basket. Once my security program finishes rendering, I'm going to start scanning in files." Skye ate the rest of her toast. "Once they're all in the system, they'll be a lot easier to rifle through. First thing – while I want it to be finding Raina – it needs to be making sure no GH files get seen by the wrong eyes…"

Coulson gave her an appreciative look.

"I know… me, saying something like that." Skye scoffed lightly, and Coulson reached his hand across the table. Skye glanced behind her, toward the others, but they weren't paying any attention to the two of them. She reached out and rested her hand in his.

"I'm so proud of you." Coulson told her, and Skye smiled, relaxing and slipping her hand further across his, her thumb brushing against his wrist.

"There are _some_ secrets worth keeping secret." She quoted him, and he smiled a little. "I'll just make sure those are marked Level Ten, and send 'em to you." Coulson gave her a long, careful look.

"You won't be able to open them, once they're Level Ten," He pointed out, and she nodded.

"I know." She said. She took a deep breath, then added, "I'm a part of this, too – but this was yours, first. Your death, your recovery, and – as we learned later – your original project. I feel like…" She shook her head, not liking that choice of words, "I trust you that if I need to know, you'll bring me in on it."

"You don't want to find out that I tortured this being, or knew about the side-effects long before I tried to end it." Coulson said darkly, and Skye squeezed his hand.

"AC," She said, softly correcting him, "Some of these files will probably be _yours_. Personal. I'm not digging through those." He looked appreciative, but then his brow furrowed again.

"If you deleted all of our personnel files when the Triskelion fell, there shouldn't be – "

"Fury loved you, AC. He has copies of your file somewhere, I'm sure of it. Probably has 'em of all the Avengers." Skye interjected softly.

"Perhaps in that box…" Coulson mused quietly, and Skye grinned around her coffee mug.

"You still haven't dug through that thing?" She teased, and he gave her an exasperated look.

"For such a small device, it has a _lot_ of information in it." He waited a beat, then added, "And I've been a little distracted lately."

"Have you?" She wondered, and he brushed his fingertips lightly against the underside of her wrist. She sucked in a breath, and could feel her eyes widen slightly. _Simmons was right; maybe there are some pheromones involved here_. He was looking at her intently, with _The Look_, and she took a careful sip of her coffee before setting the mug down.

"I hope you've been careful during your researching," Coulson warned her, his eyes still boring into her in that way that told her he was not thinking about work.

"Of course I have," Skye scoffed, slipping her bare foot toward his, thankful that she had forgotten to slip her shoes back on before leaving her office. "Stark can't even get through my security wall." She promised him, pressing her foot lightly on top of his. His brow twitched questioningly, and she smirked, brushing her toes against the inside of his ankle. He gave her a sideways look, as if he didn't believe that she was really going to do what she was doing, and she took that as a challenge.

Her foot slipped up all the way just passed the inside of his knee before he jerked, his free hand snapping down to grab her. She jumped and let out a short laugh, and he quickly pulled his hand from hers on the table, leaning back in his seat. He adopted a stoic look on his face, which told Skye that she had attracted the attention of the others, and she grinned cheekily at him, knowing they couldn't see her face. His expression didn't change for a few moments.

"What have we said about flirting in public?" He chastised her, his voice low and quiet.

"You do it all the time," Skye retorted quietly. "Just because no one else notices…"

Coulson grinned, brushing his thumb across the arch of her foot. She jerked and sucked in a breath, biting her tongue so she didn't make a noise. He looked smug.

Skye frowned, jerking her leg back hard enough that he let go, and she crossed her ankles underneath her seat. They were staring at one another with heavy, challenging looks when Trip walked up to the table.

"Hey, ready for weapons training?" Trip said to Skye, and she and Coulson both leaned back and looked up at him. He had a curious look on his face. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Nope," Skye said, hopping up and grabbing her dishes. Coulson reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. She looked at him in surprise.

"I'll get them." He said, and held onto her arm just a moment longer than necessary.

"Thanks, AC," Skye managed to say, before focusing on Trip. "I'll go put some shoes on and meet you at the range." She said, and Trip nodded, turning to watch her leave. He looked carefully back toward Coulson, who had stood and was gathering the plate and mugs.

"Everything alright, sir?" Trip asked, seeing tension in Coulson's eyes.

"Fine, Triplett." Coulson assured, and hesitated before walking toward the sinks. "Let me know if she still says 'bang' when she fires the gun." He said with some mirth, and Trip grinned.

"Yessir," He said, chuckling. Coulson sauntered off, and Trip frowned as he headed out into the hall. Being a man himself, he recognized the walk men would do when – Trip grimaced. Then he halted in the middle of the hall. _Coulson's got a hard-on for Skye?_ He narrowed his eyes, and looked suspiciously in the direction that Skye had gone.

* * *

**A/N: **Clark Gregg's swagger.


	14. More Rules

She couldn't pinpoint the exact day that things began to get more serious, but they were beginning to find themselves with their hands all over one another more often, than not.

That is, if they were ever alone together. So, they vamped up their rules, and Skye hardly ever stepped into his office at all, anymore. If Coulson needed to talk to her about something, they either took their conversation to a corner in the lab, where Simmons could keep an eye on them while she worked, or they would ask Simmons to join her in his office.

They hadn't been caught by anyone else on the team, yet, but Skye knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later. One morning, Skye was on her way to meet May for Tai-Chi, and Coulson appeared out of nowhere, pulling her into the corner, where it was dark and the cameras couldn't see. He held her wrists against the wall as he kissed her thoroughly, and he kept kissing her until she thought she would pass out from lack of oxygen. Finally she managed to push him away, gasping for air, and he seemed to catch himself. He said nothing at all during this entire interaction, and walked away, leaving her barely able to stand.

"God – damn – it." Skye hissed, holding herself up against the wall.

When she was finally able to walk again, May was already in the first part of her movements. She raised a stern eyebrow toward Skye but didn't say anything, and if she was curious about her flushed face, Skye never knew. She spent the entire session with May thinking about Coulson's body pressed against her own, and May chided her on her lack of concentration.

They were in one of Simmons' sessions when she caught on to what was going on. She had picked up on Skye's frustration earlier in the day, and asked if she could use that for one of her studies. Skye agreed, of course, and that's how she found herself alone in a small sealed off room with Coulson. Well, as alone as having Simmons standing on the other side of the glass, watching them. Which, that wasn't creepy _at all_.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Coulson asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I've already observed how Skye's presence can calm you down when you're agitated, Sir. I'm wondering if it works both ways." Simmons said, her voice slightly muffled. She glanced down at her tablet, reading the graphs that were fluctuating on the screen. Skye had looked at it; they didn't make any sense to her, but she usually used Simmons' expressions to judge whether the experiment was a success or not. Today, Simmons looked more perturbed than usual.

"How are the two of you feeling?" She asked carefully, and Coulson shrugged, somehow making this whole thing seem very normal.

"Fine," He said. "A little bored – no offense, Simmons."

"None taken, Sir." Simmons replied, and focused on Skye.

"Well, like you said, I'm frustrated," Skye said quickly, huffing. Coulson just blinked at her.

"What made you frustrated?" Simmons asked, and Skye jabbed her finger onto Coulson's chest.

"Him!" She said angrily, and Simmons' face lit up, of all things.

"It would be fascinating if the same thing you were mad at ended up calming you down! That would really prove my theory about the pheromones!"

Skye was starting to get frustrated at _her_.

"There's a lot of, um, what have both of you eaten today?" Simmons demanded, and they both looked at her with surprise.

"Eggs for breakfast. Tuna for lunch." Coulson replied. "Coffee, water…"

"I had toast and ham." Skye said. "And water. Why?"

"Aphrodisiacs are found in some foods," Simmons murmured, her eyes on her tablet.

"Not in any of those," Coulson pointed out, and Skye glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? It's something we learn in basic. Haven't you been reading the handbook?"

"Should I start checking my food now?" Skye asked him, and he looked affronted, and then he looked coy.

"Depends." He grinned, and she glared at him.

"Stop flirting." She said seriously, and he shrugged.

"All I do is look at you, and you think I'm flirting." He said, and she folded her arms across her chest.

"That's because you _are!_" She retorted.

"Guys, stop talking please." Simmons asked, suddenly looking up from her tablet. They both turned and gave her strange looks. "The more you talk, the higher this bar goes up," She turned her tablet around for them to see, pointing at it. "This registers basic aphrodisiac molecules. Your guys' _voices_ are even effecting one another on a molecular level! This is fascinating," Simmons looked back at her tablet, and Coulson and Skye stared at one another.

"I mean, I've always loved your voice." Skye shrugged.

"Yours isn't annoying." Coulson said, and she smacked him. He grinned, and she grinned a little in response.

"Look at that! You aren't as tense anymore, Skye. I was right!" Simmons did a little dance, watching her tablet closely, and Skye rolled her eyes.

"You could have just _asked_ me if I was still frustrated, Simmons."

"You've always loved my voice?" Coulson asked her curiously, and she shrugged.

"Sure. It's nice." She said, and he leaned his head to the side a little as he smiled at her.

Simmons' eyes widened and she slapped her hand against the glass.

"Hey! No!" She scolded, and they both jumped, turning to look at her again. "And what was that about flirting?" She demanded, and Coulson sighed, glancing at Skye. She shook her head at him.

"Nothing, Simmons, we just – "

"I'm not an idiot, you know," She put her free hand on her hip. "I've seen what you've been up to. Trying to see how far you can flirt before one of the team members notices. You know what's going to happen? You're going to go too far, and then the team _will_ notice, because the two of you will be going at it like you don't have a care in the world!" Simmons was angry and scolding them, but Skye couldn't help but bark out laughter, and Coulson squeezed his eyes closed.

"Get me out of here," He groaned.

"Simmons, you can't say things like that. He's a very visual person," Skye explained, in an innocent voice. "There are certain words he's actually banned me from saying – which, now that you've discovered that thing about our voices, it kind of makes sense."

"Skye," Coulson warned.

"I can't make any allusions to us having sex, no matter what terms I use. I particularly can't say 'sex'. I can't talk about how sexy I find him, I can't check him out unless he doesn't realize I'm doing it, I can't eat in front of him, I can't dance, I can't wear my red dress, and – oh, most certainly, I can't say 'Phil'."

Coulson growled and grabbed her, turning to push her against the back wall, crushing his lips against hers.

"Say it again," He breathed, "say it again."

"But…" Skye gasped when he thrust against her. "I thought you didn't _like_ me saying it,"

"No, no no no I do, I do," Coulson whispered between heavy kisses. "I _like_ you saying it."

"Phil," She repeated, somewhat hesitantly, and he sighed happily before kissing her deeply. Feeling a little more confident about it now, she repeated his name again, and he hummed his approval, thrusting against her again. She moaned, and then –

Then they were being drenched with cold water, and they both yelped. Coulson wrenched himself away from her and moved to the entire other side of the room, pressing his back against the wall.

"See what I mean?" Simmons said over the sprinklers, her arms folded across her chest. "Stop playing with him, Skye. This is _serious_."

Skye gasped for air, wiping water out of her eyes as it soaked through her hair and clothes.

"Damn it, Simmons!" Skye yelled, still feeling the way his body had felt pushing against hers.

"I don't know what it is with you two picking the worst possible times to attach yourselves at the lips." Simmons replied, as if none of this had been _her_ fault. Which, granted, most of it was Skye's and Coulson's, but what did Simmons expect, putting them in a room alone together?

Skye looked at Coulson again, soaked to the bone in his suit, and she felt bad that it would need some serious dry cleaning, now. And then she quite _liked_ rain-soaked Coulson in a suit, and she hit her fist against the glass in front of Simmons.

"If you don't want us kissing, get me the hell out of here _now_." Skye ordered, and Simmons quickly nodded, gesturing toward the door.

"Alright yes, we're done for today." Simmons agreed.

Skye didn't see Coulson for two full days after that, and she was okay with that.

... ... ...

The first time Skye discovered that Coulson was a sleep-walker, it was because she had accidentally left her door unlocked.

She woke up only a couple hours after falling asleep, and the halls were dark and quiet, telling her that everyone else had gone to sleep as well. Remembering that she had fallen asleep before locking her door, she sat up to do so, and immediately pressed her hands tightly against her mouth to stifle the scream.

Coulson was just standing there, staring at her. Looking like he'd been there for a bit.

"What the _hell_, Coulson!" Skye hissed, putting her hand over her furiously beating heart.

"I like watching you sleep," He said calmly, and she frowned. His voice was a little odd, and he hadn't moved at all in response to her almost-heart attack.

"You shouldn't be in here," Skye stood quickly, glad that she had fallen asleep in her clothes. She'd hate to know what would have happened had he come in here to find her wearing her _usual_ sleep attire….

"I haven't touched anything," Coulson promised her, still just standing there and watching her. She furrowed her brow, reaching her hand toward him slowly.

"I wasn't worried that you would," She said carefully. "Are you asleep, AC?" She asked, seeing the slightly glazed look in his eyes.

"I'm watching over you. I'm making sure you're safe." He said, as if that had been obvious. Skye smiled hesitantly, taking his hand in hers gently.

"Thank you," She said, and he smiled, looking so pleased with himself. "But you shouldn't be in here. You remember what we said? Our agreement?"

"Not to be alone together." He frowned, put out. "I miss you." The hand she wasn't holding pressed against the side of her face, and she leaned into his touch a little.

"You should go back to your room," She told him gently, and his frown deepened.

"I want to stay here," He said, and she gently took his wrist to pull his hand away from her cheek, shaking her head slowly. "_Please_." She closed her eyes, knowing she'd be unable to tell him no with the way he was looking at her. "I just want to keep you safe."

"I _am_ safe, Coulson." She promised him, and he squeezed her hand, forcing her to open her eyes.

"Please." He said again.

"As long as you sleep," She warned him, and he nodded, looking relieved. She gestured toward her bed, her bed that was almost too small to hold two grown adults, and he crawled in immediately, pressing his back against the wall. Skye glanced at her door, and knew she didn't want someone to barge in and see him in her bed. There was no way anyone would believe that he'd been sleep-walking, that he just wanted to sleep. Particularly Simmons. She locked the door, and then crawled in to bed next to him. As she maneuvered one of her pillows for him to use, he draped the sheet over her carefully. Looking at him carefully for a moment, she saw that he still had that glazed look in his eyes, and she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Goodnight, AC," She said as she turned over, her back to him. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her, leaving no space between their bodies as he spooned around her.

"Goodnight, Skye," He said happily, drowsily, and she felt his arm relax as he fell back asleep. She relaxed too, as the fear of losing control slipped away, and she snuggled against him, resting her hand against his arm.

When Skye awoke in the morning, she wasn't surprised to find Coulson still there, his arms wrapped around her. She had turned in her sleep to face him, and their legs were tangled together. She was just reaching her hand to his forehead to brush his hair back when his eyes blinked open, and she felt his entire body tense.

"Skye," He whispered, his voice filled with dread, and he was pulling away as much as he could in the small space. Skye quickly propped herself on her elbow, putting more space between them, trying to keep him from freaking out.

"Coulson,"

"Oh my God." He was pushing the sheet away, trying to sit up, and Skye sat up as well and touched his shoulder.

"Wait, Coulson," She said, and he leaned his back against the wall, covering his face with his hands.

"Oh, God," His groan was muffled, and Skye forcefully pulled one of his hands away from his face.

"Coulson. It's not what you think." She told him, and he dropped his other hand in his lap to stare at her.

"It's not? Then why am I in your _bed_, Skye?" He snarked, and the look he had in his eyes _hurt_. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," He said, sounding anguished.

"Coulson! We didn't – " Skye lowered her voice, "we didn't sleep together!" He gave her a dubious look. "I mean, we slept, but we didn't, you know." He gave her an agonized look.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly, and she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I'm _sure_."

He dropped his head back against the wall, relieved. Skye watched him carefully until his breathing calmed down.

"Why am I in here? I don't even remember walking down this hall last night." Coulson wondered, looking back at her. She bit her lip, and he frowned.

"I think you were sleep-walking," She admitted. He narrowed his eyes, thinking.

"I don't sleep-walk." He said, and she shrugged, fiddling with the edge of the sheet.

"I've never seen someone sleep-walk before, but I'm pretty sure that's what was happening," Skye told him, and he seemed to be thinking some more.

"Don't you usually lock your door at night?" He finally said, and she nodded.

"Yeah, usually, but I accidentally fell asleep," She gestured toward her clothes. He nodded, his brow still furrowed as he was deep in thought. "Coulson…" She began slowly, not wanting him to leave, but knowing he should before anything else happened.

"I didn't … do anything weird, did I?" Coulson asked her, and she smiled lightly and shook her head.

"No, though you did scare the _hell_ out of me when I woke up to find you standing there staring at me."

"Ah, jeez," Coulson groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Skye grinned and punched his shoulder lightly before getting out of the bed.

"You told me you were watching over me," Skye explained as he moved to the edge of the bed to stand as well. He froze, his hands on the edge of the bed, and he gripped the mattress tightly. "You wanted to keep me _safe_," Skye slightly teased him.

"Is that why you let me stay?" He asked, trying to hide his embarrassment. Skye glanced away from him, embarrassed herself, but answering,

"Kind of. I did feel safe, with you here. It felt… nice." She looked at him carefully, and he had that soft look on his face.

"It felt like… home, didn't it?" He asked carefully; asking if she agreed with him. Her eyes felt watery as she nodded quickly, and he reached his arms out and pulled her toward him, hugging her tightly. His cheek pressed against her chest, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her forehead against the top of his head.

They held one another like that until Skye remembered that she had Tai-Chi lessons, and they pulled apart carefully with soft smiles on their faces. Skye helped him sneak back down the hall, and they shared a grin before heading off in opposite directions. If May noticed the difference in how awake and _glowing_ Skye was this morning, she didn't speak up about it.


	15. Things Are Different Once The Sun Sets

Warm fingers brushed against the cool skin of her exposed belly.

It happened a lot, really; her tank-top would get twisted and ride up a little as she moved about in her sleep. It was accidental temptation that she couldn't hold against him. Besides, his warm hand resting against her skin felt _really_ good.

"AC," She whispered, assuming he'd found himself in her room again because of his sleepwalking. He drew small circles on her skin, and she turned her head to look at him.

It was interesting, how innocent and curious he was in his sleep. It was very much the opposite of the frantic, desperate motions they sometimes found themselves in during the day, and she had figured it would have been the other way around.

"Soft," He said with quiet wonder, and she nestled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Tucking his arm under her, he pulled her even closer and rested his other hand high on her hip, caressing his thumb against her skin slowly. She sighed happily and fell back asleep rather quickly, feeling comforted and a sense of _home_.

When she woke up in the morning, he was gone, but there was a lingering warmth against her skin, and once again she found herself smiling as she changed and went to meet May for Tai-Chi.

"You should probably stop leaving your room unlocked at night." Coulson advised her, appearing in her office just before lunchtime. She turned from her bookshelf, furrowing her brow at him. "I don't want to wake up one morning and find myself..." He hesitated. "Having taken advantage of a situation."

"That's not going to happen," Skye insisted, and he stepped further into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"You don't _know_ that," he argued, "I keep waking up and finding myself in your room with no memory how I got there! No memory of what happened _after_ I got there!"

"_I_ know, Coulson, and I would stop you if we took things too far,"

"Would you?" Coulson demanded quickly, and she narrowed her eyes at him for a moment.

"It's different," She tried to explain. "It's not like during the day, when we're both awake and fully aware of each other."

"That's what I'm _afraid_ of," Coulson said pointedly, and she shook her head.

"No, it's _good_ different. Not that I don't like our hot and heavy moments," she added, and he sucked in a deep breath, "but it's... Sweeter. Calmer. More... Innocent." He stared at her for a few moments, not quite believing her.

"Not that I think you would lie about this, but - "

"I haven't taken advantage either, have I?" She pointed out, folding her arms across her chest. "It's different for me, too. I've never felt the... Same kind of _wanting_, not like I do during the day sometimes. It's _simple_. It's just wanting you _there_, and then you are," She trailed off, realizing what she just said.

"Do you think..." Coulson looked at her curiously. "Is _that_ why I'm sleepwalking? You're... Calling me?"

"That's psychic stuff. I thought you said that didn't exist." Skye said, slightly scared by that thought.

"It doesn't. But maybe it has to do with the hormones and stuff Simmons has been obsessing over lately," He replied.

"But my dreams," she glanced at him hesitantly, and he sat himself down in a chair, folding his hands carefully in his lap. "My dreams aren't always so, uh, innocent." She quickly hurried on so neither of them would get stuck on that subject, "If I'm 'calling you' in my sleep, wouldn't you think our, uh, interactions would be more, uh,"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you." Coulson interrupted softly. "I don't want that to happen."

_I like waking up with your arms around me._

She wouldn't say that out loud, she would not. Regardless of any 'previous affection before the serum', that didn't mean he had been _that_ affectionate toward her. Wanting to wake up next to a person everyday was far more than just 'mutual affection', and she didn't want to freak him out.

"You don't want us to..." She couldn't help that one, and she hated the disappointment in her voice. His whole expression softened and he was out of the chair and holding her against him, running his hand across her hair gently.

"That's not what I meant," He assured her, "of course that's not what I meant." She fisted her hands in his shirt, taking deep breaths so she didn't so something stupid; like cry. He pulled away carefully and placed his hands on either side of her face. "Don't think it's because I don't want you. I _do_ want you, Skye, so much it hurts." He said earnestly, and she bit her lip. He stroked his thumb across her cheek, catching a tear.

"But,"

"I can't stand the thought of us making love solely because of this stupid serum, because we lost control. Or, worse - one or both of us _not remembering_ it happening."

_Making love._

"I've wanted this for far too long for it to not be _proper_, for it to not be _us_ and completely _us_."

"Oh, _Phil_," Skye pressed her forehead against his chest, overwhelmed, and she figured because she was crying, he didn't freak out over her using his first name. His arms circled around her, and he pressed his cheek against the top of her head, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

After a few minutes, she pulled her head back to look at him sheepishly.

"I'm going to miss waking up in your arms," She admitted. "And God, that sounds cheesy, but,"

"I'm going to miss it too," He softly interrupted her, and they smiled at one another.

"You're right, though," Skye sighed, pressing her ear against his chest, "during the night it's fine but once we're both awake... The temptation could get too much. I think the biggest thing that's kept me in check is the fear of being late to Tai-Chi again."

Coulson chuckled, rubbing her back a little before pushing her away lightly.

"Fear of May is what keeps us all in check, I think," He joked, and Skye grinned as she gathered herself together, wiping at her face. Coulson reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, leaning forward and pressing his lips against her forehead for just a moment. "Keep your door locked," he said again before leaving, "we'll figure this out. I still believe that."

"I do too." Skye assured him, and he flashed her a small smile before leaving her office.

She stood there for a moment, looking off into space. _Making love._ It _did_ mean something to him; it was more than just lust or serum or opportunity. She couldn't stop a smile forming on her face at that thought, and she settled behind her desk, getting back to work.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry it took me a little longer to update. Thanks everyone for your reviews. It means a lot :)


	16. Acknowledgement

At the end of the week, Skye was comfortably lounged in the recliner in Coulson's office, curled up with her tablet in her lap. They hadn't had any major mishaps this past week, and they were pretty pleased with themselves. Coulson was much more comfortable having her alone in his office again, and he felt better not having to drag Simmons around like a babysitter.

"I've found a number of files that referenced TAHITI, already. You should have them in your inbox." Skye told him, and he glanced up at her and nodded, swiping through some of the files on his desktop.

"I see them. Thanks, Skye," He said appreciatively, and she shrugged.

"Like I said, this is your stuff. Besides… I don't know if I _want_ to know everything about TAHITI…" She admitted quietly, and Coulson closed his eyes with a pained look on his face.

"I'm sorry," He murmured, thinking of the video that had really started everything so many months ago. Skye shook her head at him, leaning forward.

"It's not _you_, AC, it's – I'm not worried about what _you_ may have done. I'm worried about what _they_ may have done _to_ you." Skye informed him seriously, and he pondered her for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Skye, but no matter how many times you insist that you aren't angry with me – I just can't understand how you can be so concerned for me when clearly I've done a lot of bad things." Coulson replied.

"Because it's quite obvious that you regret those things!" Skye argued. "You aren't making up excuses, or pretending that you've never made a bad choice, or continuing to make the same mistakes over and over again – you've _changed_. Instead of letting those choices define your life, you used them to become a better man." Skye softened her tone and added, "How can I _not_ love you for that?"

Coulson stared at her, a myriad of expressions on face; hope, fear, nervousness, joy. Skye gave him a hint of a smile, the corners of her mouth lifting up just slightly.

"You love me," He acknowledged quietly, and Skye sighed and smiled wider.

"Of _course_ I do, you idiot."

The fear and nervousness slipped away and a wide grin broke out across his face.

"So it's mutual, then?" She asked, and he regarded her in surprise.

"Of course – I thought I'd said as much when we spoke in your office the other day?"

"When we agreed that I should double-check my door lock every night?" Skye asked incredulously. "That was – I wasn't _sure_, not one-hundred percent…"

"Oh, Skye, I've loved you since… I feel like I've loved you since I've _known_ you." He sighed, and Skye bit her lip. "Come here," He asked, and she stood and set her tablet down, moving behind his desk. He rested his hands on her hips gently and pulled his chair closer to her, staring up at her with a soft smile on his face. "When have I _not_ loved you?" He wondered softly, and she leaned down to kiss him.

Her kiss didn't demand or submit. It invited, lured, gave, and accepted – it was a kiss that was all Skye, and it was the most wonderful thing that Coulson had ever experienced. A warm and light feeling filled his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, hugging her with his whole body. He responded to her kiss, but he let her keep control of it.

"So much," Skye whispered, pulling her lips away and resting her forehead against his, sounding frightened. "So much."

"It's okay," He soothed, rubbing his hands against her back. He wished he could tell her that he would never leave her, that she would never lose him, but they both knew that wasn't realistic. Not in their line of work. "As long as I'm alive, I'm yours," He promised her instead, moving his hands to cradle her jaw, pulling their bodies apart just enough so they could look one another in the eye. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but he knew that it was from happiness. "I don't know how long that will be, Skye, but – God, I hope it's for a _really_ long time."

She laughed shortly and leaned in to kiss him again. His hands returned to her waist and she dropped kisses tenderly on every part of his face. Starting with his bottom lip, then the corner of his mouth where he was fighting off a smile, the tip of his nose, the center of his brow, and ending with the outside corner of his eye, where his laugh-lines were more prominent. He hummed pleasantly and she returned her lips to his mouth, kissing him longer there.

She braced her hands on his thighs as she deepened the kiss slowly, her tongue dipping into his mouth and then retreating, asking him to follow. He accepted her silent request wholeheartedly, and ran the tip of his tongue along the roof of her mouth. She sighed against him and leaned her head to the side, kissing him harder, taking them to the verge of some cliff between tender and rough, between affectionate and dirty.

This time, he could feel it creeping in. The _otherness_. It touched the edges of his consciousness, pressed against his senses as if it were testing before it tried to take control.

Skye's fingers were digging into his thighs, and he could feel the heat curling low in his body, the arousal building slowly but steadily. Still, he felt like he was in control, the otherness hadn't taken over yet, and he was too pleased by this knowledge to want to stop, now. He nipped at her lower lip, dragging his teeth across her skin, and she gasped.

"_Phil_," The sound was from the back of her throat, and he growled lowly in response. The next thing he knew he had her sitting on top of his desk, her legs wrapped around his waist, his mouth on her neck. She pushed his jacket off of his shoulders, running her hands along his back as he thrust against her, his arousal rather prominent by this point.

She ran her hands through his hair, and he felt it again, the otherness pushing at him. It was more insistent this time, and he shook his head slightly, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. His hands froze at her knees, and as she felt him tense, she pulled her upper body away from him slightly.

"What is it?" She breathed heavily, trying to clear her head.

"Do you feel it?" He whispered, cautious. He was out of breath as well. "I can feel it…"

"I feel _something_," Skye said suggestively, shifting her hips into his deliberately. He made a throaty sound and his grip on her legs tightened.

He wanted her. He wanted to _show_ her how much he loved her, how much she could be loved. He had the chance to do that _right now_, but he couldn't. Not with the threat of _it_ taking over. He wasn't yet strong enough to fight it off, not once he was completely distracted by her. He could feel it waiting at the edges, waiting for that moment when he stopped being cautious and just focused everything on her.

He wasn't sure that it was all that dangerous, but he was selfish in the fact that he wanted her for _himself_. Not even his… _other_ self, or whatever it was, could share that. Not yet. Not the first time.

"I should look into these files," He said huskily, removing his hands from her legs slowly. He pressed his face into her neck, though, and breathed deeply while he forced his body to cool down.

"Yes," Skye agreed with resignation, removing her legs from around his waist. She ran her hand through the back of his hair, caressing softly while they simply breathed together for a few moments.

He finally leaned back and looked her carefully in the eyes. Her pupils were still rather dilated, and he figured his probably were too, but her overall expression seemed calm. He smiled lightly and rested his hand against her cheek, and she turned her head to kiss his palm.

"I want to dig some more into The Wall," Skye said, pulling her hands away from him. "I've got some theories… and I've been chatting with someone who might be able to help me out."

If anything could dampen his mood, the fear that surged through him at that statement was certainly one of those things. He stepped back from his desk, giving her a wide-eyed, worried look.

"Who? What? The _team_ doesn't even know about this; how can – "

"Woah, chill AC," Skye held her palms up toward him, sliding off the edge of his desk. "I've taken all the necessary precautions, and I've given no details."

"But this person has _seen_ the symbols!" Coulson pointed out, his version of panic on his face.

"That's _all_ they've seen! Trust me, they're experienced with alien languages. All I asked was that they help me figure out what it says, or at the very least, what language it is."

"What if it's something _dangerous_?"

"What if it isn't?"

"Skye…" Coulson groaned, running his hand across his eyes, and Skye folded her arms across her chest.

"No. Look, I know what I'm doing. I've been getting information from people practically my whole life – it's _what I do_, remember?" She raised her eyebrow at him, and he conceded to at least look at her while she explained. "I told them I stumbled across it in an abandoned building. They said they'd look into it. That was _it_."

"And they didn't ask the location of said abandoned building?" Coulson asked, and Skye narrowed her eyes wryly.

"You think I'd tell them where this place is? _I _don't even know where this place is!"

"Of course I don't think that, Skye, but there are other hackers out there. People like you,"

"People _better_ than me – though, I have to say, that's rare." Skye said honestly, and Coulson raised his eyebrow. She shrugged.

"How do you know that this mysterious person isn't just another hacker? Or a member of Hydra?"

"Oh, this person isn't mysterious. She's a scientist. Well, she works for a scientist. She's really smart, though, and good with tech." As Skye spoke, Coulson felt dread pooling in his stomach, even before he fully acknowledged the possibility of what Skye was suggesting.

"You know her?" He asked. Skye shook her head.

"Not personally. I know _of_ her, though, and I think you do, too. She's been associated with SHIELD before." Coulson raised his eyebrow again, and Skye grinned proudly. "I did a background check first, of course, before I even considered her."

Coulson sighed heavily, and turned his chair around to sit in it, scooting it forward toward his desk. Skye stepped to the side out of the way, straightening her shirt and curving her hair behind her ears.

"Send me her details," Coulson replied, and Skye threw herself into the recliner again as she picked up her tablet and flicked her finger across the screen. Coulson pulled open the file and stared at it for a few moments. _Of course._ He wasn't really that surprised.

"Darcy Lewis." He said, a hint of fondness mixed with frustration in his tone, as if he were speaking of the favorite child that always ended up getting into trouble. Skye frowned.

"You know her?" She asked quickly, and he nodded, looking through her file to see what she had been up to, since his death.

"Yes, the scientist she works with is Jane Foster. Jane Foster is a… connection to Thor." Coulson explained, his eyes on his desk. Skye widened her eyes.

"As in… _dreamy_ Thor?" Skye breathed, and Coulson was the one who frowned this time. He looked up at her. "What?" She asked. "You were the one getting all fond over the intern – why can't I get all fond over the superhero?" Coulson chuckled in bewilderment.

"_Fondness_ is far different than _drooling_," He pointed out, and she scoffed.

"I was not drooling." She informed him.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about Ms. Lewis." He told her, sounding amused, looking back toward his desk.

"What? I – I'm not _worried_ about 'Ms. Lewis'," Skye laughed dryly, looking to the side, and Coulson studied her closely. "Okay," Skye bit her lip, squirming under his gaze, "Stop staring at me like that,"

"I knew her pre-death. You remember when I told you about my first 0-8-4 case? That it was a hammer, in New Mexico?" He asked, and Skye nodded. "That was our first interaction with Thor. Dr Foster and her team had run into him; my team and I intercepted. Let's just say Dr Foster was not too fond of me for a while, since then."

Coulson smirked a little, and Skye eyed him knowingly. That was his amused, proud smirk. He must have irked them a lot.

"Well," Skye waited a beat, then shrugged. "Darcy Lewis has been sent an encrypted photo with no location data attached. I even made sure there weren't any reflections or anything telling in the image itself. I'm just some alien-language enthusiast who hit a road block and asked for some help. She seemed eager and innocent."

"Eager and innocent, sure." Coulson said agreeably. "At first. Once she gets curious, she gets sharp. She's very observant, and she's a quick thinker. If she starts asking too many questions, you need to cut ties immediately. Don't let her dig her heels in." Coulson warned her, and she nodded, relaxing, a pleased look on her face.

"Thanks, AC," She grinned at him. He closed out Darcy Lewis' folder and pushed it to the side, focusing once more on the Level Ten files.

"If I find anything in these that I think may be helpful to you, I'll send you copies." Coulson said, and the two of them settled in to work.

The otherness was still there, ghosting around inside his head, at the edges of all of his thoughts. He glanced up at Skye, taking in her furrowed brow as she concentrated, and it prodded at him, reminding him of the current condition still somewhat present in his trousers.

He frowned, crossing his ankles and scooting further under his desk, forcing his entire focus onto his desktop and the files open in front of him.

He didn't realize that his fingers were drawing invisible patterns on the desk beside him, keeping up a steady pace even as he lost sense of everything else around him and pored through the pages of information.


	17. Repercussions

**(**A/N at bottom of page**)**

* * *

Skye sat in her office, focused intently on the papers scattered all over her desk. One computer screen was dedicated to her own research, one to her conversations with Darcy, and one displaying the photo she had taken of The Wall.

She had told Darcy about her idea that the scribbling was some sort of map, and Darcy had agreed, throwing out a bunch of ideas regarding that, including something that stuck out to Skye: a star chart.

She'd pulled another all-nighter last night, researching star charts and all the universes that humankind was only just beginning to discover.

Her head hurt.

_Darcy,_ Skye typed out, _Just pulled an all-nighter and need to catch some shut eye. Here's some things I've discovered hacking a few SHIELD files… of course, none of this may be new to you, but I figured to send them to you just in case. Let me know what you think. Skye._

Skye sent the message, and let out a loud yawn, stretching widely in her chair. She stood and cracked her back, pausing to see if she would get an immediate reply from Darcy. When nothing popped up, Skye locked her computer down and slipped out of her office, locking the door as well.

She didn't want to take any chances with one of the team accidentally coming across her research.

It was just past 3am, so Skye didn't expect to see anyone else in the halls. She should have known that Coulson's sleep-walking wouldn't have stopped, just because she had locked her bedroom door.

She had just turned down the hall that led to all of their rooms, and he was walking toward her from the other direction. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed; barefoot, sleep pants, a t-shirt, and disheveled hair. She paused, staring at him with concern when he didn't stop until after he had passed her. He looked back toward her then, but his face was expressionless. He blinked at her, then turned and continued down the hall, a silent invitation for her to follow him.

"AC?" She called out in a whisper, and he didn't respond. This was when she knew for sure that he was sleep-walking again, and she walked with him to make sure he didn't hurt himself or anything. He didn't once look over at her as they walked down the hall, and he led her to the storage room.

"AC," She said again, her concern etching into her voice, and he moved to the back of the room. He stood in front of The Wall, and he pulled a pocket knife from his pocket.

She stared, open-mouthed, her voice dying in her throat, as he began adding lines and circles to the map. He paused for a moment, eyeing his work, and then moved to another section of the wall. All the while, his expression did not change. Skye was shocked, and a little scared, and couldn't do anything other than stand there and watch him for the next few minutes.

When he stepped back to observe his work again, she suddenly reached forward and grabbed onto his shoulders, forcing him around to face her.

"Coulson!" She said loudly, refusing to acknowledge what she saw in his eyes. _What wasn't his._ His pupils seemed elongated and his eyes were a deeper blue than she'd ever seen. They almost weren't even _blue_, anymore.

"Skye?" He said quietly, sleepily, his eyes returning to normal, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, pressing her head against his shoulder, into the crook of his neck. There was a clatter as the knife fell to the ground, and he slowly brought his hands up to her back, confused about what was happening. "What's wrong?" He wondered, still sounding as if he had just woken up.

"You were sleep-walking," She realized out loud, her fists clenching his t-shirt.

"I – really?" He wondered. "I thought I had stopped doing that…" He trailed off, realizing where they were. He slowly pulled away from her, and she was hesitant to let him go. She was frightened by what she had seen in his eyes; she didn't want to see it again. "Skye, why are we in here?" He asked carefully, turning back around to look at The Wall. She resisted the urge to reach out toward him again.

"I don't know," She whispered, staring at his back. She didn't want to look at The Wall again.

"Skye." He said after a moment. "Did _I_ do this?" He reached his hand out toward The Wall, a look of wonder on his face.

A completely different reaction than he had the first time she had shown him The Wall.

She reached out and snatched his hand away before he could touch it.

"Don't!" She said quickly, unsure of where her fear came from, but quite certain that she didn't want him to touch it. He turned back toward her, confused, still disoriented, and she held his hand tightly.

"Let's go back to bed, AC," She said, her voice wavering as she tried to relax. His eyebrows pulled together for a moment in a frown, but then he nodded and allowed her to lead him by the hand.

They were silent as they headed down the hall; Skye trying to organize and gather her thoughts, and Coulson wondering just how often he'd been sleep-walking.

He entered his room first but she followed him in, shutting the door behind them.

"Skye," He began, but she shook her head at him, pulling his reading chair over to the side of the bed, pointing toward the tangled sheets.

"I'm going to watch over you, AC." She spoke softly, but her underlying tone and facial expression told him not to argue. He got back into bed as she settled herself on the chair, and he turned so that he was facing her.

"Thank you," He whispered, so quietly that she almost missed it. She leaned forward to brush his hair smooth, and rested her hand there for a moment. She managed to quirk a quick smile at him, and he closed his eyes.

She leaned back into the chair, tucking her limbs tight against her body, curling up into the chair and resting her head against the armrest so she could watch him.

... ... ...

It was seven o'clock when Skye awoke to the smell of coffee being brewed, but she didn't even care that she had completely missed Tai Chi.

As soon as she opened her eyes and saw Coulson's empty bed, she remembered what had happened, and she sat up quickly in the chair. Her joints popped, and she winced.

"Here," Coulson stood next to her chair, holding out a mug. She took it from him carefully, looking him closely in the eyes.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked gently, and Coulson looked worried for a moment before schooling his features.

"Like every other morning. Normal." He shrugged. "Well, it was a little different waking up and seeing you in here." He smiled lightly, but she couldn't respond the humor. She was already thinking about all the implications and complications of this new discovery.

Coulson moved back toward his coffee maker, pouring himself a mug, and Skye sipped hers gently, knowing she'd need the caffeine to get through the rest of the day.

They had a lot of work to do.

"We need to talk to Simmons." Skye said seriously. Coulson turned toward her, looking like he was about to argue, and she shook her head, leaning forward in the chair. "No, Coulson – this is _serious_. That video you showed me; you had mentioned hypergraphia. Among other things – other things that sounded _dangerous_. If you're starting to show symptoms…"

"Maybe May will get to put two in the back of my head, after all." Coulson snarked with a frown, and Skye glared at him.

"This stays with Simmons, unless she thinks we'll need the others to help cure you."

"I thought you didn't like secrets," Coulson pointed out.

"This is your _life_," Skye gritted her teeth, standing up. She would have crossed her arms if she hadn't been holding the coffee mug. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive." She gave him a hard look, and he relaxed his stance.

"I'm sorry. I just…" If she hadn't been looking so closely, she would have missed the fear that flashed through his eyes. She set her mug on the corner of his desk and moved toward him, her gaze softening.

"I am too." She told him, reaching to grasp his free hand. "Let's call Simmons," She said softly, tugging him gently toward his desk. He nodded and moved to sit in his chair, sighing and squaring his shoulders before picking up his phone. Skye picked up her tablet where she had left it in 'her' recliner, and sat across from him at his desk. As he asked Simmons to meet him in his office immediately, Skye pulled open her messaging system. Surprisingly, she had a reply from Darcy already.

_Skye. Wow, girl, you __are__ talented. Some of these files are Level Ten! Even with SHIELD fallen, we've had trouble reaching even Level Six stuff. Anyway, yeah, a lot of this is actually research from Jane, but it's still helpful to us. Going on the assumption that these are star charts, I sent that photo to Jane to have her input. She's much more familiar with the cosmos, in that sense – and who knows, maybe she can get the god of thunder to help her out._

Skye caught her breath, hoping that she wouldn't lose control of the situation. Everything would be fine, as long as nothing led back to Coulson….

_I haven't found anything similar to this writing in my circles, though. I don't know how you managed to stumble upon a brand new language, but… I think that's what we have here. New to us, anyway. I'm realizing every day that we are "puny" and "young" and "like children" and – geez, what I would give to live in an apartment __away__ from Jane when her boyfriend is in town. He is so pompous sometimes, I don't know how she handles it. Don't get me wrong; he's also pretty __awesome__, and – okay, I'm mostly talking about his arms, there._

_Anyway, thanks for the files. At this point, I'm picking out all the names of alien races, and hitting up the best search engine there is – the all-knowing Google. How about you take the last few in the list, I'll stick to the first few, and we'll see if we come up with something?_

_Short of asking Thor for help, we're kind of at a wall right now._

_Oh, haha, that was a nice pun. Wish I'd meant to do that on purpose._

Skye downloaded and saved the list that Darcy had sent her, hoping that one of them came across something. Without knowing which language this was, they were going to have _a lot _of trouble trying to translate it.

"Well, it is something rather technical… So probably a very intelligent species." Skye murmured to herself. That knocked out a few races on her list, so it was a start.

"Simmons is on her way," Coulson said resignedly. "Have you found something?"

"Not really," Skye sighed. "Darcy is stuck, too. We're basically crawling through every mention of an alien language, and cross-referencing them to the symbols on The Wall. No hits, yet." Coulson frowned.

"Honestly, I'm a little surprised we haven't found anything in any of these old SHIELD files. It's rare to come across something that even the more secretive areas of SHIELD haven't mentioned, before." He admitted, and Skye raised her eyebrow at him.

"They've been hiding things from us for this long. I doubt we've found _everything_ SHIELD knows." She said pointedly, and Coulson let out a dry laugh.

"I doubt we ever will." He muttered, and they were silent for a few moments. Simmons broke it by barging into the room, a worried look on her face.

"What's happened?" She asked quickly, shutting the door behind her and approaching the other chair next to Skye. She had her notebook clutched in her hands. Coulson glanced at Skye, and she gave him an encouraging nod.

"You'll want to sit down, Jemma." Coulson started.

* * *

**A/N: **I am so sorry that this update took so long. I've been suddenly busy as of late, and by the time I get home all I want to do is sleep... For those that have been sticking with this story, I thank you. You guys keep me writing.

Well, that, and Coulson and Skye are just so much fun to write... :)

Please continue to review! I don't want this story to stagnate, and your input keeps me fresh and on my toes!


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